SingPost hit with record $100,000 fine for nine lapses in 2017
IMDA says SingPost did not meet Quality of Service standards on delivery of mail
Singapore Post (SingPost) has been hit with a record $100,000 fine after nine incidents in 2017 where it failed to meet the Quality of Service (QoS) standards on delivery of local basic letters and registered mail.
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a media release yesterday that the margin of failure in 2017 was significant compared with SingPost's previous instances of non-compliance with the QoS standards.
Under IMDA's Postal QoS framework, SingPost is required to deliver 99 per cent of local basic letters to an address within the Central Business District (CBD) and 98 per cent to destinations outside the CBD by the next working day.
According to IMDA, SingPost failed to meet the 99 per cent standard for the CBD area in May 2017. The Postal QoS framework also requires SingPost to achieve 100 per cent delivery of local basic letters and registered mail by the second working day.
In 2017, SingPost did not meet the standard for the delivery of local basic letters by the second working day for five months, and the delivery of registered mail for three months.
The IMDA is also investigating an incident on January 29 of a postman throwing mail away, adding that firm action will be taken against such behaviour as it is an offence under the Postal Services Act.
In a statement yesterday, SingPost said it accepted the financial penalty imposed and also announced measures to improve service quality.
With the growth in e-commerce increasing the workload of postmen due to a significant rise in package deliveries to homes, along with the usual delivery of mail to letter boxes, SingPost said yesterday it will hire 100 more postmen and redeploy 35 mail-drop drivers to full-time postmen positions.
It will also enhance remuneration for postmen with incentives for successful deliveries of trackable items to the doorstep, as part of a broader salary structure review to ensure remuneration is better aligned with the current requirements of the job.
Another move will be to reduce missed deliveries by extending mail delivery slots to weekday evenings and on Saturdays, with overtime pay for postmen who volunteer for these after-hours slots.
The company will also undertake a fundamental review of its mail operations to raise reliability and service standards.
Mr Paul Coutts, SingPost Group chief executive officer, said: "We deeply apologise to our customers for our service failures. The immediate measures we are announcing today will address the most pressing issues and provide improvement in service quality over the next three to six months."
IMDA said it is assessing SingPost's QoS for 2018 and will publish the results by the middle of this year.
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