Pakistan Post’s losses have continued to increase over the years and the existing gap between the expenditures and revenues is huge. The state-owned organization’s budget stands at Rs 18 billion as compared to the expenditures of Rs 24 billion.
More Salaries and Pensions Than Revenues
The organization pays Rs 7.5 billion in pensions while another 71% of the budget is used for paying salaries. It is also facing a shortfall of 3,739 employees and the current number of employees stands at 47,348.
The numbers were presented by Secretary Postal Services Pir Baksh Jamali in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Postal Services session headed by Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry. He informed the session that the losses are out of control and an increase in salaries and pensions would further aggravate the financials.
The Secretary Postal Services, however, said that if the government pays the pensions as it does for other state-owned organizations, there will be no deficit.
The committee lauded the efforts of Pakistan Post for offering services in far-flung areas despite limited resources and assured of its cooperation.
Ways to Increase Revenues
Member committee, Raja Riaz, informed the session about revenue collection from utility bills, saying that Rs 8/bill is being charged which should be increased to Rs 16 to increase the revenues. Last year, utility bill collection yielded revenues of Rs 429.9 million.
The committee was also informed about Rs 10 billion earned in revenues in the current fiscal year and that the funding of Rs 371 for the rebranding of Post Offices was withdrawn under the austerity drive.
The Ministry of Postal Services also demanded a place for office in Pakistan Secretariat.
Actually the situation is such that private courier companies can make more money sending parcels via pak post instead of using their own resources! Pak post’s tariffs haven’t been updated since 2009. They are charging 1/10th the price of private companies.
Unfortunately, all govt organizations are facing similar situation due to lack of young, hardworking, skilled workers. Old folks due to much discouragement had lost their enthusiasm log ago. We need young blood with drastic policy changes to make our organizations innovative and profitable.