SingPost fined S$300,000 for doing a bad job in 2018

Punitive enough?

Belmont Lay | March 29, 2019, 01:15 PM

SingPost has been fined S$300,000 for doing a bad job in 2018.

This is a second fine after one issued earlier in February 2019 for a bad job done in 2017.

Not meeting quality service standards

This latest penalty is for not meeting quality service standards in the delivery of letters in 2018.

Fined S$100,000 for 2017's bad job done

Previously on Feb. 7, the IMDA imposed a S$100,000 fine on the postal service provider for failing to meet the delivery standards of local basic letters and registered mail on nine occasions in 2017.

2018's bad job done

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a statement on Friday, March 29 that it took account of 20 cases of non-compliance in 2018, which is 11 cases more than in 2017.

“IMDA also took into consideration that these were repeated failures, and in some cases involved lost letters,” the regulator said in a statement.

“Nevertheless, IMDA also noted that the failure margins in 2018 were generally lower on average as compared to the year before.”

Errant ex-postman left Singapore without being prosecuted

A former SingPost mailman who discarded returned and advertisement mails at the Reflections at Keppel Bay condominium in 2018 is now barred from working in Singapore again.

He will be arrested if he returns to Singapore.

Sacked but not prosecuted

The IMDA said that the man, Chinese national Liu Zhengang, was sacked by SingPost after the incident, investigations showed.

A video of his disposal antics were shared widely and condemned on social media last year.

Liu has returned to China but an advisory has been issued by IMDA.

IMDA said in its statement: “IMDA reserves the right to prosecute him.”

It was not stated when he went back to his home country.

SingPost urged to get better, fast

The IMDA said that it has ordered SingPost to “take urgent steps to improve its service standards and restore public confidence in its postal services”, as it takes a “very serious view of any lapses” in SingPost’s mail services.

The regulator wrote: “IMDA has also issued an advisory to SingPost to remind SingPost of its obligations to safeguard mail integrity and security and to train and educate its staff to perform their task properly.”

SingPost's revenue

SingPost posted a third quarter net profit increase of 15.6 percent to S$50.2 million.

The third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018.

Top photo via SingPost