Tag: Asia

Rent out post office space to commercial entities

Posted by | Jun 8, 2008 | |

Postal services assets, primarily its islandwide network of post offices and sub post offices could be used to generate additional revenue if space in those outlets are rented out to other commercial establishments, a report said.

The report, which has as its prime focus to enhance the revenue of the loss making Sri Lanka Posts (SLP) was handed over to Posts Minister Mahinda Wijesekera at the SLP Hqrs. bldg,, on Wednesday.

SLP is the only organization having islandwide outlets (some 4,703 outlets) providing “easy” access to every household. This facility will be “gladly” embraced by other institutions that do not have such infrastructure facilities. There are many institutes such as telephone companies, internet service providers, electricity companies, Water Supply Board, insurance companies and local government authorities who want to collect revenue from their customers and are looking for operational space, post offices may fill this vacuum, the report said.

SLP, formerly known as the Postal Department, made a Rs. 2.3 billion loss last year. It has accumulated losses totalling Rs. 11.2 billion over a 12 year period beginning from 1996.

Among the recommendations made in this document which was prepared by Deputy Post Master General K.A.S. Senadhira were to take advantage of the fact that many commercial banks were waiting for a tie-up with SLP to receive more agency services, including using the postal network for foreign money remittance. HSBC already uses post offices for credit card payment settlements.

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Remittances through post offices

Posted by | Jun 8, 2008 | |

The Postal Department is discussing with a remittance service and a private commercial bank to introduce remittance services in postal outlets.

The Department operates some 650 post offices and 3,500 sub-post offices islandwide.

The service providers with whom the Department is having discussions are Western Union (WU) Money Transfer Service and DFCC Vardhana Bank (DVB).

Posts Minister Mahinda Wijesekera speaking at the Postal Department Hqrs., Bldg., on Wednesday said that the necessary space available for such banking operations will be rented out to them.

The Minister said that the Department made a Rs. 2.3 billion loss last year. Its expenditure this year is forecast at Rs. eight billion, and next year, Rs. 10 billion.

“Such steps will help us to mitigate such losses through the rent income received,” said Wijesekera.

The Department has some 19,000 employees.

At present, still the main types of remittance service in the country are the traditional telegraphic transfer systems and bank drafts which are costly, WU Sri Lanka Marketing Manager Imran Carim told The Sunday Leader.

The Postal Department also has a tie-up with HSBC for credit card settlements.

“We will be negotiating with other banks, to get them also into this scheme,” Posts Ministry Secretary W.M. Piyasena told The Sunday Leader.

He said that the Department was talking to Moratuwa University and Dialog Telekom for networking of their branches and utility bills settlements, by the consumer making use of the Department’s islandwide postal network to make those payments which will be transmitted electronically.

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Quintiq completes software installation at DHL Express Singapore

Posted by | Jun 6, 2008 | |

Quintiq, a provider of advanced planning and scheduling systems, has said that it has completed the installation of Parcel and Express Planning Solution at DHL Express Singapore.

Quintiq has said that APS will ultimately provide all DHL Express operations throughout Asia-Pacific with advanced planning and scheduling capabilities for their courier dispatching processes, in their overall express parcel services.

Development of the Quintiq software for DHL Express in Malaysia is now underway, with implementation expected to be completed during Q2, 2008. India, China, Hong Kong, Australia and other countries in the region are scheduled to go live through the rest of the year and early 2009, the company has said.

Oliver Facey, vice president of operations programs for Asia Pacific at DHL Express, said: “The kind of improvement that we have already seen in dispatching efficiency is a direct result of the increased visibility and automation provided by the Quintiq solution. Although the solution has only just gone live, we are pleased by these preliminary results.”

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Pos Malaysia to disburse rebates

Posted by | Jun 6, 2008 | |

National postal services provider Pos Malaysia Bhd has been appointed as the agent to disburse the rebates promised by the government to car and motorcycle owners.

Malaysians can start claiming the subsidies at all 686 post offices nationwide beginning July 1, where vehicle owners who made the claims personally at post offices will be paid in cash, Pos Malaysia said in a statement yesterday.

To help citizens cope with the fuel price hike, the government has promised a road tax subsidy for vehicle owners from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009. Owners of 2000cc and below cars and of up to 2500cc pick-up trucks and jeeps are entitled to RM625 for each vehicle. Those with motorcycles of up to 250cc will receive RM150 each.

Vehicle owners who send third parties to make claims, however, need to furnish Pos Malaysia with their mailing addresses, after which money orders will be mailed to the respective owners.

Details of the claims procedures and required documents would be revealed soon, Pos Malaysia said.

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