MDDI's response to PQs on SingPost's Whistleblowing Incident

Parliament Sitting on 7 January 2025

QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

*43. Mr Saktiandi Supaat: 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 Infocomm 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: To ask the Minister of Digital Development and Information in light of the whistleblowing report received by Singapore post relating to its internal e-commerce logistics parcel 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.

Answer:

1. Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to address Question Nos 43 and 74 for Oral Answer in today's Order Paper? Mr Speaker, my response today will also cover the questions filed by Dr Tan Wu Meng, Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim 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.

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

3. First, what is the substance of the whistleblowing report? The report concerned the alleged falsification of e-commerce shipment data for SingPost’s customer.

4. 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.

5. 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 QoS standards.

6. I would also assure Mr Saktiandi Supaat that postal services for legal notices and court orders are not affected.

7. While the whistleblowing report did not affect regulated domestic postal services, we were concerned, as Dr Tan 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.

8. Third, on Mr Pritam Singh’s 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.