Sri Lanka’s postal service is to undergo full digitisation by 2027 as the Department of Posts modernises its operations, Postmaster General Ruwan Sathkumara said, according to NewsFirst.
The initiative aims to transform a postal service with a history spanning more than two centuries, Sathkumara said.
He also announced plans to introduce electric motorcycles and three-wheelers to the postal fleet next year, to improve mail transportation and delivery.
World Post Day
The announcement was made to mark World Post Day, observed on 9 October. NewsFirst reports this year’s theme as “One Post, Infinite Possibilities.”
Sri Lanka’s postal history dates back to 1798. The country’s first postage stamp, featuring Queen Victoria and valued at six pence, was issued on 1 April 1857.
Not reported
The filing gives no detail on what “full digitisation” will comprise — which services move online, and whether counter operations, money orders, parcel tracking or the sub-post office network are included. It does not say what the 2027 target means in practice for the department’s island-wide outlet network.
It gives no cost figure and no funding source for either the digitisation programme or the electric vehicle purchase, and does not say how many electric motorcycles and three-wheelers will be acquired or when next year they will arrive.
It does not say whether postal trade unions have been consulted. That omission is notable given the department’s recent industrial history and the corruption and fraud matters this newsroom has reported, including the Rs. 2.1 million missing from the Weligama post office and COPA’s postal fraud investigations.
A note on sourcing
This report rests on a single verified newsroom. A search of other verified outlets returned only older coverage of earlier postal modernisation efforts, dating back several years and describing different programmes; none of it is cited here, and none of it describes the 2027 target. Spending figures and World Post Day themes carried over from those earlier editions do not apply to this announcement, and this desk has not repeated them.
Source: NewsFirst.
