SingPost saga a matter of corporate governance, no impact on domestic postal services: MDDI

SINGAPORE: The government on Tuesday (Jan 7) said that domestic postal services by Singapore Post were not affected in the recent incidents that led to the firing of three top executives in December.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has assessed and is satisfied that the incident was confined to international transshipment parcel delivery overseas and did not affect regulated domestic postal services, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How said on Tuesday (Jan 7) in response to parliamentary questions.

"This is a matter of corporate governance, which the SingPost board is dealing with," he said.

In December, SingPost dismissed its group chief executive officer Vincent Phang, group chief financial officer Vincent Yik and head of its international business unit Li Yu for mishandling whistleblowing reports related to the alleged falsification of e-commerce shipment data.

The three former executives have said they would contest their sackings.

Mr Tan said  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," he said.

"As the public postal licensee, we expect SingPost to meet its obligations for its regulated postal businesses. These include ensuring that domestic letter delivery meets IMDA’s quality of service standards."

He added that the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) is concerned about the findings of the whistleblowing incident and the subsequent dismissals.

The ministry is monitoring the situation closely to ensure that domestic services remain unaffected, especially in this period when a new group CEO has yet to be appointed. 

"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," said Mr Tan.

Mr Tan also assured MP Saktiandi Supaat (PAP-Bishan-Toa Payoh) that postal services for legal notices and court orders were not affected. 

The ongoing postal sector review will also not be affected by this incident, said Mr Tan in response to questions from Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and MP Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang).

He said the structural factors that the postal service industry is facing have not changed. 

"We are still looking at how we can ensure that the postal services remain sustainable, accessible and also cost-effective for all Singaporeans to meet our needs," he said.

In 2023, Mr Tan said the government would work with SingPost on a "fundamental" review of the future of Singapore's postal service, given changes in the delivery ecosystem such as the rise of logistics and e-commerce players.

At the time, he also said IMDA would work with SingPost to review its costs and operations.