A new Postal Act will be presented to the parliament within this year to expedite modernizing the Postal Department, State Minister of Mass Media Shantha Bandara says.
The modernization process is planned to be carried out as a joint public-private sector partnership at a cost of Rs.10 billion, the lawmaker said, assuring that the Postal Department would not be privatized at any cost.
He expressed these views during a press conference themed ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ held at the Presidential Media Center today (July 16).
Bandara said plans are afoot to convert the Postal Department into a profit-making institution within the next two years, through digitization.
Further, the Minister said that by the end of 2023, the loss of the Postal Department will be reduced by Rs. 4,000 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.
The state minister said he has had discussions with the respective officials and taken 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 the year 2024.”
Bandara said that in 2025, the government’s goal is to create a Postal Department that no longer depends on the Treasury.
The Postal Department, which is one of the oldest departments in this country, still has an Ordinance brought during the time of the Queen, the state minister pointed out, noting that it has been amended only once thus 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 its work has already been completed by 80 percent,” he added.
“We hope to create new revenue generation channels through digitization of postal service,” the state minister continued noting that at present, Rs. 4,000 million, Rs. 668 million and Rs. 200 million have been earned annually through the sale of stamps, postage of stamps and Cash on Delivery (COD) service respectively.
In the future, it is planned to increase the revenue by popularizing the COD method, he explained.
“During the modernization of postal service, 1,000 three-wheelers will be deployed all over the country replacing the traditional bicycles that were used in field for a long time. We also hope to provide an official uniform. By doing so, our ultimate goal is to create a strong postal service in the country,” the state minister continued.
