What is the Universal Postal Union (UPU)?

About Universal Postal Union (UPU):

 

• It is a United Nations specialized agency and the postal sector's primary forum for international cooperation.
• It was established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874.
• UPU is the second oldest international organization worldwide.
• Mandate: To ensure universal access to postal services.
• Headquarters: Bern, Switzerland
• Functions:
  • It coordinates postal policies among member nations in addition to the worldwide postal system. 
  • It sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to stimulate growth in mail, parcel and financial services volumes and improve the quality of service for customers.
  • It helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.
  • It fulfils an advisory, mediating and liaison role and provides technical assistance where needed. 
• Member countries:
  • Any member country of the United Nations may become a member of the UPU.
  • Any non-member country of the United Nations may become a UPU member, provided that its request is approved by at least two-thirds of the member countries of the UPU.
  • The UPU now has 192 member countries.
• Structure: UPU consists of four bodies,
  • The Congress: It is the supreme authority of the UPU and meets every four years.
  • The Council of Administration: It ensures the continuity of the UPU's work between Congresses, supervises its activities and studies regulatory, administrative, legislative and legal issues.
  • The Postal Operations Council: It is the technical and operational mind of the UPU and consists of 48 member countries elected during Congress.
  • The International Bureau: Fulfilling a secretariat function, the International Bureau provides logistical and technical support to the UPU's bodies.

 

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Q1) What is the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience. Each Bank provides its own UPI App for Android, Windows and iOS mobile platform(s).

Source: Universal Postal Union to evaluate UPI platform for cross-border remittances using global postal network