PIN Code@50 years

PIN Code@50 years

News: Postal Service’s PIN Code Turns 50

GS Paper 2: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

GS Paper3: Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life.

What is a Postal Index Number (PIN)?

  • Postal Index Number (PIN) is a six-digit code (PIN) code introduced  by India Post on August 15, 1972.
  • It  is an alpha-numeric or numeric number that is included in the postal address for easy identification of the sorting-district and the addressee’s delivery post office.
  • The postal code, known with different names in different countries viz. postcode, zip code, etc. The Universal Postal Union says that 160 countries of the world have so far introduced postal codes.

What is the history of the Postal Code?

  • The codes were introduced nationwide in Germany in 1944, Singapore (1950), Argentina (1958), the U.S. (1963), Switzerland (1964), India (1972), and the U.K. (1974).
  • Introduction of sorting machines in the West in the 1960s also necessitated the introduction of codes since the machines could not read the addressee’s post office easily if described in writing.

What are the effects of Postal Code?

  • Postal Index Number(PIN) gave unique identity to all physical addresses of the country in terms of the delivery jurisdiction of the post offices. 
  • PIN  code helped  in bypassing inaccurate addressing and ensured accurate and fast delivery by post offices.
  • Post code revolutionized the system of manual postal sorting as the sorters are not required to keep in memory the locations of thousands of post offices.
  • With the introduction of computerized billing by utility service providers and the launching of KYC norms by banks, where providing complete and accurate addresses is mandatory, the proportion of PIN-coded mails in India  improved.

What are the current issues faced by PIN Code?

  • Even after five decades, a substantial volume of mail in India is not PIN coded. Government’s effort to educate the citizens to write the PIN code of the addressee on the mail. succeeded to a very  small extent.
  • Delay in processing at the sorting centers as in cities such as Delhi and Kolkata, where sorting work is done by machines, mails without PIN code must be coded separately before they are put to the sorting machine.
  • With the  revolution of mobile telephony in the last two decades Personal mail has almost vanished .Major volumes in the Postal system are documents and e-commerce parcels where there is stiff competition from the couriers.
  • Manual Beat sorting at the post office delays the process: The PIN code helps in taking a piece of mail to the addressee’s post office. The delivery jurisdiction of the post office is normally divided into beats and there is a postman assigned to each beat.

Way Forward:

  • Integrating the beat code with the six-digit PIN code: The PIN code in that case will not only identify the addressee’s post office but also the concerned beat. If the post office makes the mobile number of the delivery person of the beat available, citizens may even leave instructions to him regarding his convenience to take delivery.
  • Change in Method of Beat-sorting: Beat -sorting currently done at the level of the post office, can be done in the circle hub, if the beat code is integrated with the PIN code.
  • Utilization of new machinery such as letter sorting machines, flat sorting machines (handling packets) and parcel sorting machines 
  • Making the concept of sorting-district redundant as with the dwindling volume of personal mail, it is not impossible to sort all incoming mail and shipments at one circle or regional hub. 
  • Centralize the parcel delivery centers and mechanize the beat as the logistic system associated in processing of e-commerce articles is intrinsically different from that of handling personal mails. A postman used to go to his beat in a bicycle along with a hundred mail pieces for delivery. But he needs a vehicle for delivery of fewer e-commerce parcels.
  • Rationalization of PIN codes as the system of postal code that was introduced 50 years back may not be operationally relevant in the new role of a post office.
  • Before rationalizing the PIN code, one thing that needs to be kept in mind is that though the code was originally designed to help postal operations, today it is used by couriers, e-commerce players and various other service providers as a means of locational identification of a person.

Source: The Hindu

Source Link:

  1. The Hindu: https://bit.ly/3Bug46i ; Author: Gautam Bhattacharya

Yojna IAS Daily Current Affairs eng med 29th August

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