The government has finalised a new parcel policy that will be executed jointly by the Indian Railways and the Department of Posts, as it seeks to capture a larger share of the courier business.
According to officials aware of the move, the Joint Parcel Product-Rapid Cargo Services (JPP-RCS) will enable door-to-door services for retail consumers. It is expected this policy will increase the modal share of the railways in national transport beyond the present 28% for fiscal 2022-23.
“The modal share in parcel can be increased by creating an enabling framework for the movement of parcel loads by facilitating aggregation through an online virtual aggregator platform and also providing door-to-door services for such consignments,” a senior government official said.
The railways is currently running round trips of timetabled joint parcel product trains on 13 routes with the India Post. This number is expected to increase as more demand comes. In line with this plan, a virtual aggregation platform (VAP) will be launched to serve as an interface between empanelled private sector players and the railways. Dedicated parcel trains of at least 21 coaches will run as pre-scheduled services. In the event that India Post seeks more coaches, it will have to approach through the VAP on similar terms as any other private aggregator. The new policy will address the lack of scheduled parcel trains, which is considered to be a hurdle in attracting players interested in time-bound movement of their goods.