The
Department of Post (DoP) is likely to finalise the consultant for its payment
bank by the end of this month.
The
DoP had shortlisted six consultants but only three of them have submitted
bids.The
consultant will advise the Department on setting up of payment bank.
"We
are doing the technical evaluation which will be completed by January 22 and by
the end of this month, tender will be awarded," an official in DoP told
PTI.The
consultants which have submitted their bids include KPMG, EY and
Deloitte.The
Public Investment Board (PIB) is scheduled to consider tomorrow a Rs 800-crore
proposal from DoP for setting up the bank.
After
the PIB's approval, the proposal will be moved to Cabinet within a month. PIB
under the Finance Ministry vets investment proposals by state-run
entities.The
pilot for payment bank is set to start from January 2017 while full-fledged
operations may start by March 2017.
As
many as 40 international financial conglomerates, including World Bank and
Barclays, have shown interest to partner with Postal Department for the payment
bank.The
Reserve Bank of India has granted payment bank permit to the postal department,
which has 1.55 lakh branches across country and already provides financial
services.