Probe in to Manual Manipulation of Delivery Status Codes for SingPost Parcels

The following question stood in the name of Mr Saktiandi Supaat –

43 To ask the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether the Ministry is aware of any manual manipulation of delivery status codes for any parcel deliveries within Singapore; (b) what further actions, investigations or audits have the Ministry or the Info-communications Media Development Authority ordered SingPost to conduct; and (c) considering the important role that postal delivery plays for the service of legal notices and court papers, how can trust be preserved in the reliability of postal services.

74 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information in light of the whistle-blowing report received by Singapore Post relating to its international e-commerce logistics parcels business which was also sent to the IMDA, whether the Government will (i) conduct further comprehensive reviews of the company to identify any non-compliance matters, including with IMDA's Universal Service Obligations and Quality of Service standards for postal service and (ii) relook its fundamental review of the postal sector.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Question No 43.

The Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for Digital Development and Information): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to address Question Nos 43 and 74 for oral answer in today's Order Paper? My response today will also cover the questions filed by Dr Tan Wu Meng¹, Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim² and Mr Pritam Singh for a subsequent Sitting. If the Members are satisfied with the response, they may wish to withdraw the questions after this session.

I will answer the following questions raised by Members. First, what is the substance of the whistle-blowing report? Second, are domestic postal services affected? Third, does this affect the review of postal services?

First, what is the substance of the whistle-blowing report? The report concerned the alleged falsification of e-commerce shipment data for a SingPost customer. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) had assessed and was satisfied that the incident was confined to international transshipment parcel delivery overseas and did not affect regulated domestic postal services. This is a matter of corporate governance, which the SingPost board is dealing with.

Second, are domestic postal services affected? As mentioned, the answer is no. SingPost's board has assured the Government that postal service operations are not affected. Nonetheless, IMDA will continue to keep a close watch to uphold the public's interests. As the Public Postal Licensee, or PPL, we expect SingPost to meet its obligations for its regulated postal business. These include ensuring that domestic letter delivery meets IMDA's Quality of Service, or QoS, standards. SingPost's QoS performance is independently audited and the results are published on IMDA's website. Over the last four years, SingPost has performed within the QoS standards.

I would also assure Mr Saktiandi Supaat that postal services for legal notices and court orders are not affected. While the whistle-blowing report did not affect regulated domestic postal services, we were concerned, as Dr Tan Wu Meng was, about simultaneous dismissals of senior executives in a firm providing essential postal services. Hence, IMDA had issued SingPost an advisory to uphold proper corporate governance and processes, given its PPL status.

Third, on Mr Pritam Singh and Mr Louis Chua's questions on how this affects the postal sector review, the answer is that it has not and the review is ongoing. IMDA will continue to work closely with the CEO of SingPost's Singapore Business Unit, who remains in the role. Our postal services have to transform to remain sustainable and accessible while safeguarding the interests of the public and postal workers.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong): Mr Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his answer. I recall asking the Senior Minister of State last year if SingPost, the private company, have some de facto public service role, given the role of post offices in the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority passport collections today and distribution of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have got two related questions for the Senior Minister of State.

Firstly, given what happened to SingPost's leadership, does the Senior Minister of State agree that the health of the brain and heart of a corporation can also affect other organs and other limbs of the corporation as well? And if so, is there any concern that what is happening to the unregulated international part of the business might eventually spill over to affect the regulated domestic part of the service business?

Secondly, can the Senior Minister of State elaborate on what IMDA is doing to find out what happened at SingPost, to ensure that SingPost's staff morale is maintained, especially on the ground and that management is not distracted from the essential services aspect of post office service provision in our heartlands, including for our Clementi residents?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, I gave a relatively more comprehensive reply to the Member's question last year on postal services, including the post office in Clementi, so I will not repeat some of those points but will focus my answer on the issue at hand and the Parliamentary Question that was raised.

As I had mentioned earlier, our primary concern as a regulator is that domestic postal services to the public is not affected. IMDA has ascertained that this was the case. The whistle-blowing incident involved overseas e-commerce parcel delivery and did not affect domestic letter delivery.

That said, we are concerned with both the findings of the whistle-blowing incident and the subsequent dismissals, and are monitoring the situation closely to ensure that domestic postal services remain unaffected, especially during this period, where the new group chief executive officer (CEO) has yet to be appointed. And as I mentioned earlier, we are working very closely with the CEO of the SingPost domestic business unit to ensure that business continuity remains, staff morale remains and that they deliver their obligations under the licensing regulations. We are also monitoring very closely the QOS standards, and the various regulatory standards are still in place. So, we assure Members that we are paying close attention to the incident.

Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Chua.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just one supplementary question. I asked about the review of the domestic postal licence and all that, but at the same time, given the incident that has happened, and I also note that the dismissed executives have disputed the claim, in such a regard, would the Government then consider conducting its own review, not just specifically for the domestic postal services obligations, but also as to the firm as a whole, in terms of giving the Government some assurance that whatever representations that the firm has made, in regard to its domestic obligations and other operations, that there is actually a proper process in place and that the firm is, as a whole, manage adequately?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, on the Member's question about the review of the postal sector, that review is ongoing. As I mentioned in my reply earlier, the structural factors that the postal service sector is facing have not changed. There is a decline in terms of the letter postal mail. More of us are not sending a physical mail and more are using digital means. So, the structural factors have not changed and we are still looking at how we can ensure that postal services remain sustainable, accessible and also cost-effective for all Singaporeans to meet our needs. So, that review is ongoing and we will continue to work with the SingPost team on those factors and reviews.

On the point about assurance that the domestic postal services remain unaffected, as I had mentioned earlier in the response to Dr Tan's question, we are closely monitoring the situation.

And the Member mentioned about some of the exchanges made publicly between the dismissed executives and the SingPost management and board. I will not talk more about it because there might be litigation action between the parties.

For IMDA as a regulator, our primary concern is to make sure that the domestic services continue and are not affected. And with this regard, we have also sent an advisory note to the SingPost board. We are glad to note that SingPost is taking this seriously. For example, they have taken steps to help ensure this. The chairman has indicated he will step up to provide closer guidance to management. The Singapore business unit's CEO, who directly oversees domestic postal services, remains in the role and the group CFO has been replaced by an experienced executive. SingPost has also newly created a group COO role and a person has been appointed to oversee the domestic operations. So, these are steps that SingPost has taken and IMDA as a regulator will continue to monitor this situation closely.