SINGAPORE – A month after it was fined by the authorities for lapses in standards in 2017, SingPost has been handed another fine of S$300,000 for not meeting quality service standards in the delivery of letters last year.

In assessing the penalties, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a statement on Friday (March 29) that it took account 20 cases of non-compliance in 2018 as compared nine 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.”

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.

ERRANT POSTMAN BARRED FROM WORKING HERE

The IMDA also said that a former SingPost mailman who had discarded returned and advertisement mails at the Reflections at Keppel Bay condominium last year is now barred from working in Singapore again and will be arrested if he returns to the Republic.

Following its investigations, the IMDA said that the man, Chinese national Liu Zhengang, was sacked by SingPost after the incident, a video of which went viral on social media last year.

The IMDA has also issued an advisory to Liu, who has returned to China. It was not stated when he went back to his home country.

“IMDA reserves the right to prosecute him,” said the regulator in the statement.

“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.”

Noting that it takes a “very serious view of any lapses” in SingPost’s mail services, 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”.

After it was fined in February, SingPost announced that it will be implementing “immediate measures” to improve service quality and win back the trust of its customers.

These include the hiring of an additional 100 postmen and redeploying 35 mail-drop drivers as full-time postmen and enhancing postmen’s remuneration with incentives for successful deliveries for trackable items to the doorstep.