KHAMMAM: N. Prasada Rao, who started a recurring deposit (RD) account in a postal bank spent three hours at the post office to pay his June instalment of the RD. Finally, he decided to go back home without depositing his RD amount.
The main reason was a server problem which did not get resolved in three hours. Worse, the server was down for ten consecutive days.
Ever since the postal department has been computerised, everything is centralised and all work has to be updated online.
But the server being down is a regular feature with the postal department, causing a huge issue amongst customers along with making the life of the postal department employees also difficult. Interestingly, no employee, right from the clerk to the postmaster had no idea about how the problem could be resolved, who would resolve and how long it would take.
Scores of customers who visited the head post office in Khammam on that day, went back without getting any of their work done.
An employee at the desk tried to placate the customers by repeatedly saying that the server was not connecting. Neither could the public deposit money nor could they withdraw it.
N. Sankar, whose mother’s account is at the head post office branch in Khammam said, “I have been coming to the post office bank for the last three days but I have failed to withdraw money from her account due to the persistent server problem”
The problem had apparently been on for the last 10 days and no one was put on the job to rectify it.
Payments like Kisan Vikas Patra, monthly income scheme, RD, public provident fund, senior citizen saving scheme, National Savings Certificate, Sukanya Samriddi Yojana and Time Deposits were hit because of the server problem. Senior citizens suffered the most.
By one estimate, above 10,000 customers, who had their accounts in various post offices in Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts failed to do their transactions. By another estimate, transactions worth `20 crore was frozen with the server down.
