A VSAT-based money order system for India

The Indian Postal Service is run by the Government of India and is administered by the Department of Post (DOF). It´s primary objective is to provide service to the public at large, and in particular to those located in rural and remote places. To that extent, it often subsidises the charges so as to make it affordable to the public. For example, the basic post card which takes care of more than 90% of personal letter communications, is subsidised to the extent of 90% of the cost. These social objectives thus restrict the DOP from functioning purely on commercial lines. The public money order service of the DOP has also been traditionally oriented towards such social objectives. The new VSAT-based system is aimed at making use of satellite communications technology to enable the DOP to be commercially viable while continuing to meet it´s social objectives, and even introduce newer customer-friendly features and services