SingPost fined S$30,000 for mail loss incident

SINGAPORE — SingPost has been issued a fine of S$30,000 by the Infocomm Development Authority for a breach in its mail security last September when an entire bag of 400-500 mail pieces meant for six HDB blocks in Woodlands were lost by a postwoman.

The postwoman had left a trolley of mail unattended but hidden behind wood debris at the corner of a void deck while she went to a washroom across the road. She did not take the mail trolley with her as it was raining, and she did not want to get the mail wet.

When she returned after 10 minutes, the mail was gone. SingPost then lodged a police report and performed searches at the surrounding area for four days but the mail was not recovered.

The mail loss was a breach of SingPost’s Public Postal License which states that it should establish, maintain and comply with appropriate measures and procedures to ensure that the risk of loss, theft and damage to letters is minimised.

IDA said in a statement that at the time of the incident, SingPost had no issued any lock or chain for trolleys used by its postmen which increased the risk of mail being stolen. IDA investigations also found that the nylon bags used by postmen were only slightly water-resistant.

SingPost has since issued water-resistant trolley bags that can be locked and standard bicycles with lockable boxes to its postmen.

The last IDA fine to SingPost was S$10,000 levied in June last year for not meeting quality of service standards in mail delivery time.

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