Can you imagine a remote village in India receiving an e mail without having a computer or an internet connection. Now it is a reality. Indian Postal Department have a service called the ePost through which people who do not have computers and internet connectivity in rural areas and towns and cities can send and receive e-mails. The service was launched on 30-01-2004 nationwide thereby bridging the digital divide in our communication systems.

How does ePost Work?

If you do not have computer and internet connection and your are residing in a town/ city, you can send an email to your dear one/friend or others, by contacting the e post center and booking an e post message for transmission to the e-mail address of recipient. The message may be typed or handwritten. The same will be scanned and transmitted. You can also book e post at ordinary post office and same will be sent to the nearest e post center for scanning and despatch.

Likewise if you have a computer and internet connection and want to send a mail to dear one/ friend who does not possess a computer or internet connectivity, living in a remote area, you can send a message to the e post center. At the destination e post center, the message will be printed, enveloped and will be delivered to the address by the postman doing regular rounds. Messages received at epost centres for areas beyond their delivery jurisdiction are printed and sent to concerned Post Offices for delivery.

The message should not be of size more than A4, but there is no restriction for the number of pages. The current charges are Rs.10/- per page per addressee. e-post messages will be treated as unregistered letters as per Indian Post Office Act, 1898.

You can also send epost from your office or home if you have internet access. You can make payment through the prepaid card available at select post offices. The customer has to register as user and get epost service at www.indiapost.nic.in by following the instructions. At present, only text messages can be sent in this mode The charges for sending epost messages using prepaid cards is Rs.6/- per page. Bulk discount is available for messages more than 50 pages or message is sent to more than 50 recipients.

Corporates who want to advertise their products and service to select customers can also use this facility. It saves them from many overheads such as advertisements, postage or hand delivering.

For more information call the nearest post office or log on to www.indiapost.nic.in