MUMBAI: Neopost India, part of the Paris-based Neopost Group, a worldwide leader in mailing and logistics solutions provider on Sunday said that it has partnered with government-controlled, India Post to sell digital franking machines to mass-mailers in the country.

This move will help in phasing out of existing electronic franking machines. Digital franking machines allow mass mailers, such as companies that send out a large number of mails, to pay for postage as and when they need it instead of having to paste stamps.
“Our partnership allows us to sell ‘DigifrankPlus machines’ in the country to corporates and small and medium businesses, while the same machines will be contracted to government bodies through the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals,” Neopost India’s CEO, Mr Sanjeev Sharma said in a statement here.
The machines will be priced upwards of Rs one lakh depending on its capacity, Mr Sharma said.
India Post, in December 2009, had granted approval to Neopost range of new digital franking machines using Remotely Managed Franking System (RMFS), to replace the currently used electronic franking machines.
The deadline set for replacing such machines is June 30, 2013.
Mr Sharma said that the capacity of ‘DigifrankPlus’ machines starts from franking 1,200 mails an hour and goes up to 15,000 mails per hour.
Asked about how many machines Neopost expects to sell, Mr Sharma declined to comment but added that there is an established base of more than 20,000 machines and there is a huge growth potential in the segment.
“With the introduction of this new generation of digital postmark, India Post has joined the leading posts of the world which use the latest technology of franking machines. Printing a unique digital ID on each piece of mail increases the bandwidth of the postal network and opens the way to greater efficiency and service.” Neopost Group’s executive director, strategic and emerging markets, Mr Gilles Wozelka said.
Remotely Managed Franking System (RMFS) allows the user to pay for the postage online. Earlier, the machines had to be taken to the post offices where some official would open it and manually put in the value of franking that was purchased. Now the payment can be done online and the machine is automatically updated.
Neopost is listed in the ‘A’ compartment of Euronext Paris having market capitalisation of Euro two billion.
Neopost is a leading supplier worldwide for mailing and logistics solutions. The company supplies the most technologically advanced solutions for postage franking, document folding/inserting and addressing as well as web based logistics management, traceability and services.