By Arun Kumar Das
New Delhi, Nov 30 (BVI): The Indian Railways has liberalised its parcel service guidelines, allowing wider participation in leasing of parcel spaces and registering as an aggregator.
According to the Railways, it has removed the Rs 10 crore annual minimum net turnover criteria for participants in tenders for leasing parcel cargo express trains.
This move aims to boost parcel space utilization and attract more participants.
The fee for freight forwarders has also been halved, encouraging wider engagement in this growing business vertical.
Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), a PSU of Indian Railways, has been tasked with ensuring last-mile delivery by roping in business associates in which customers can book parcels online.
The parcel service can be availed by retail consumers as well, the Railways maintains.
The railways have been focused on bulk goods till now, but focus has recently shifted to increase containerised movement of parcel goods through demand.
The Rs 50 lakh minimum annual net turnover needed to aggregate parcels has also been removed.n official statement said this is being done to increase parcel space utilisation on the national transporter.
There is a need for attracting more aggregators into this business, the Railways says, adding aggregators play an important role across the value chain.
The Rs 20,000 fee payable by freight forwarders or transporters seeking to empanel as aggregators has also been halved by the Railways.
The relaxed financial criteria are expected to encourage more participants in this business vertical where the Indian Railways has been increasing its focus.
In October this year, Railways launched a door-to-door delivery parcel service on the Mumbai-Kolkata route.
According to official estimates, the Mumbai-Kolkata door-to-door parcel service through railways will offer savings of about 7.5 per cent on cost and almost 30% on time compared with road transport. (BVI)
