SINGAPORE - The delivery of parcels and registered mail may soon have to meet regulatory standards, following recent complaints and a $100,000 fine handed to SingPost for service standard failures that covered only domestic mail.

The recent lapses by the postal service provider involved both services which are covered by the Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) Postal Quality of Service standards, as well as those that are not, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Sim Ann said in Parliament on Monday (Feb 11).

The IMDA received eight complaints in 2018 about people getting notices that mail could not be delivered to them even when there was someone at home. In 2017, there were seven such complaints.

But SingPost could not give the specific number of complaints it received on such failed delivery notices, Ms Sim noted.

"Nonetheless, we believe that there are likely to be more incidents which were not formally reported," she said, adding that the IMDA will pay attention to this area as well.

Ms Sim was replying to Ms Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC) on instances of missing mail and the misuse of failed postal delivery notices when recipients are home.

She also said that SingPost received 91 complaints about misdelivered and lost mail last year, and investigated each complaint and re-delivered mail that was found.

Under the IMDA's Postal Quality of Service standards, SingPost has to deliver between 98 per cent and 99 per cent of local basic letters in one working day, and 100 per cent in two working days. It failed to meet these requirements in nine instances in 2017, resulting in SingPost receiving its highest fine to date last Thursday.

The regulator said it is assessing SingPost's service standards for last year, and the results will be published in the middle of this year.

The postal service provider announced a raft of measures on the day it was fined, in a move to improve its service quality in the coming three to six months. The measures include hiring an extra 100 postmen and extending mail delivery slots to weekday evenings and on Saturdays.

SingPost has been criticised by people in recent months for several incidents, including discarded mail and undistributed business flyers.

Ms Sim said SingPost's board and management agree with the Government that a thorough review of its operations and manpower must be made, even as it takes immediate steps to remedy the service lapses.

Ms Lee also asked how the provider of an essential service could be prevented from becoming complacent, and what circumstances would prompt the revocation of SingPost's licence.

Ms Sim replied that SingPost does not have a monopoly on basic letter services, as three others are also licensed to deliver such letters here.

Elaborating, she said SingPost is Singapore's only public postal licensee, which means its obligations include maintaining postal boxes, issuing stamps and delivering basic letters to and from anyone in Singapore, she said.

But Postal Services Operations licences have been awarded to Asendia Singapore, DHL eCommerce (Singapore) and World Marketing Group, and these allow them to deliver letters weighing up to 500g.

Parcel delivery, meanwhile, is an "open and competitive segment", with many companies offering door-to-door service, Ms Sim said.

SingPost's failure to meet government standards do not warrant the revocation of its licence at the moment, she added.

Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) asked if the ministry would consider facilitating alternative delivery agents and systems, like a trial she introduced in her Central Singapore District, where senior citizens were employed to "drop mail in their localities".

"The outcomes were quite good... There is good potential to create reliable delivery systems (and) employ seniors and also graduates of special education schools who may not be able to have other forms of jobs," said Ms Phua, who is mayor of the district.

Ms Sim said she will ask tje IMDA to work closely with the Central Singapore Community Development Council to understand the pilot scheme and look at how it can improve postal services.

SingPost's lapses had been raised in Parliament as early as 2017 but the situation has gone "from bad to worse", Ms Lee noted.

Ms Sim said it may take time before the service delivery gaps are addressed fully.

She also said that further regulatory action from the IMDA can be expected as it reviews SingPost's letter delivery performance for 2018, investigates infringements under the Postal Services Act and considers additional regulatory standards.