Pakistan Post ditches Digital System, reverts to manual Ledgers

October 29, 2020

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Pakistan Post’s financial transaction system has reverted to a manual accounting system due to non-functional central software solutions (CSS).

Apparently, an administrative dispute between senior Pakistan Post officials and the Ministry of Communications has led the state-owned enterprise towards old age methods as Pakistan Posts entire financial transaction system reverted to a manual ledger system.

Currently, Post Office Administrators (GPOs) are converting data on Excel sheets to ensure data remain secure, many errors have been found on manual transaction log and the possibility of fake transactions in savings accounts has risen.

Pakistan Postal Administration contracted Telconet in 2012 to automate the business of seven financial services at 83 GPOs across the country, but a Pakistan Post report found the system was not working effectively even after seven years.

Telconet rejected such reports, stating that Pakistan Post’s IT department was satisfied with the supplier’s performance for the first three years, and as a result, the service contract was extended to 2017.

Independent IT experts believed that technology adoption and financial services delivery was inherently challenging, given the opposition to corporate interests of Pakistan Post employees who opposed automation at all levels of the giant enterprise.

It is estimated that Telconet paid approximately $ 650,000 for Escher software licenses for software, consulting, training and support, leading to the successful implementation of the global solution.