On Wednesday, October 30, 2024, the Union government notified the Email Policy of Government of India, 2024, which outlines requirements for government departments and bodies to use the National Informatics Centre (NIC)’s NICeMail service. Under this policy, email addresses must be specific to each government employee’s service. For instance, an IPS officer’s email would end with “@ips.gov.in” rather than the general “@gov.in.” This policy replaces the previous 2015 guidelines for government email addresses.
Key changes in the policy include:
- Service-Specific Email Domains: Each government employee’s email must reflect their specific service, such as “@ips.gov.in” for IPS officers, instead of a general “@gov.in” domain.
- Permanent Name-Based Email Addresses: Officers will receive a unique, name-based email address that will stay with them throughout their government career.
- Generic Role-Based Emails: Certain official positions will have role-based email addresses assigned.
- Email Forwarding for Transferred Officials: The policy provides for redirecting emails to officials after they are transferred to new roles.
- Archiving of Role-Based Inboxes: Designation-based email inboxes will be archived after an officer completes their tenure in a specific role.
- Private Leasing Option: NIC’s email services can now be leased to private entities in exchange for a fee, although NICeMail will remain free for government organizations.
- Distinguishing External Contractors: Email addresses for non-permanent contractors and consultants working with the government will have “-contractor” added to the domain, such as “name@meity-external.gov.in” for consultants with the IT Ministry.
The NICeMail service is widely used by Union and state government bodies. While the NIC, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, hosts and maintains the email service, many government email inboxes have recently been migrated to Zoho, a Chennai-based IT firm. Reports indicate that up to 5 million government email accounts may now be handled by Zoho.
