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Over Rs 5,000 million loss at Postal Dept
View(s):The Postal Dept last year suffered the highest reported loss in the past five years, of more than Rs 5,000 million, an increase of more than Rs 2,000 million, its latest performance report shows.
According to its overall financial review of last year, the department’s total income was Rs 6,711 million, while its expenditure was Rs 11,756 million, a deficit of Rs 5,045 million.
In 2014, the deficit was Rs 2,984 million, while in 2013 it was Rs 2,859 million.
The expenditure increased proportionately with the increase in the cost of distributing mail through the Sri Lanka Railway and Sri Lanka Transport Board.
The report also states that the salary hike granted by the government last year is another reason for the rise in expenditure. In addition, there were improvements to basic facilities in Post Offices (PO), while training programmes were initiated to reduce the employee disputes.
Despite the loss, there was notable growth in the use of Business Mail Service, Local Speed Post and in the sale of stamps. The Dept has decided to increase their services by providing options to pay water bills, insurance premiums, examination fees and money exchange facilities.
The report suggests the Dept. intends to offer a personalised service to the public, where postmen will collect the bills from households, and hand them over to the payment counters at the respective POs.
An interesting trivia stated in the report was that, on average, every person in the country receives 16 letters annually.