Post Office told to scrap loss-makers
Lawmakers yesterday demanded the Post Office stop operating three loss-making services, saying it would help to reduce its annual $80 million deficit.
But Postmaster-General Luk Ping-chuen said scrapping the three services would not lead to any savings because they were all provided over the counters in the SAR’s 128 post offices and involved no extra rent or staff.
During the Public Accounts Committee hearing, legislators said Postshop, E-post and remittance services were not financially viable and should be scrapped.
A value-for-money investigative report by the Audit Commission earlier criticised the three services, saying they were all losing money and would further hit the Post Office’s budget.
Last year, Postshop in the General Post Office in Central made an operating loss of $4.1 million, while the E-post service – which allows customers to send electronic messages – lost $300,000.
The remittance service also lost $4 million last year because it was unable to compete with private-sector services.
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