Three-wheelers to replace traditional bicycles in postal service: Shantha Bandara

Some 1,000 three-wheelers will be deployed country-wide under the modernization of the postal service, replacing the traditional bicycles used in the field for a long time, State Minister of Mass Media Shantha Bandara said today.

He said an official uniform would also be provided to postmen with the ultimate goal of creating a strong postal service in the country.

He said the modernization of the postal service is planned to be carried out as a joint public-private sector partnership at a cost of Rs.10 billion and that the Postal Department will not be privatized at any cost.

It is expected to convert the Postal Department into a profit-making institution within the next two years, through the digitization of the Department, the Minister pointed out.

Further, Minister Shantha Bandara said by the end of 2023, the loss to the Postal Department will be reduced by Rs.4000 million.

“When President Ranil Wickremesinghe assigned me this Ministry he entrusted me with the challenge of converting the Postal Department into a profit generating institution. The Postal Service's income in 2022 was Rs. 7,000 million while the expenditure was Rs.14,000 million. I discussed with the relevant officials and took steps to reduce the gap between the income and the expenditure of the Postal Department from Rs. 7,000 million to Rs.4,000 million. It is planned to resolve the gap between income and expenditure by 2024. In 2025, our goal is to create a Postal Department that no longer depends on the Treasury,” State Minister Bandara said.

“The Postal Department, which is one of the oldest Departments in this country, is still under an Ordinance brought during the time of the Queen. It has been amended only once so far. We have identified the Post Office Ordinance as a major obstacle to the modernization process of the Postal Department and other relevant activities. Therefore steps are being taken to amend it urgently and around d 80 percent of the work has already been completed,” the State Minister said.

“We hope to create new revenue generation channels through the digitization of the postal service. Currently, Rs. 4,000 million, Rs. 668 million and Rs. 200 million has been earned annually by the sale of stamps, postage of stamps and Cash On Delivery (COD) service respectively. Also, in the future, it is planned to increase the revenue by popularizing the COD method," he added.(Ajith Siriwardana)