Crackdown on local courier postmen

By Chathuri Dissanayake

The Postal Department has begun to crack down on local courier companies engaged in distribution of letters and packages. A postman representing one such company was arrested in Wattala last week along with 207 letters given to him for delivery by a private company in Kollupitiya.

Post Master General K. B. Dissanayake told The Sunday Times that according to the Postal Ordinance the monopoly of distribution of letters is held by the Postal Department and it is illegal to distribute letters within the country, but that there are a number of companies which engage in distributing letters within the country.

“The companies are registered as courier companies but their operation is against the Postal Ordinance which has given the sole authority of distributing letters to the Postal Department,” he said. According to officials there are about 30 such private courier companies operating in Sri Lanka engaging in the illegal distribution of letters.

“We have learnt that some of these companies make use of the network of the postal department to deliver letters and packages to their intended recipients as the department has the best and the most widely spread postal network in the country,” Posts and Telecommunications Ministry Secretary W. M. Piyasena said. According to department sources the companies have recruited retired postmen to deliver their letters to the recipients as they are familiar with the locality.

The Postal Department plans to take legal action against such companies and has already referred the matter to the Attorney General. However, in the long term the department and the ministry are also looking at the possibilities of regularising the whole process as well.

“It is premature to speak of any concrete plans but discussions are on to look into the possibility of regularising the work of these companies,” Mr. Piyasena said