Azeem A Khan

Pakistan Post – the national postal service provider – has put into action a comprehensive plan to be a progressive, modern, and vibrant organisation, marching with the pace of the time. It is taking innovative measures to cater to the changing demands of its clientele, reports WealthPK. Pakistan Post, like many other postal services worldwide, has been experiencing a decline in usage due to the increasing use of digital communication methods. Therefore, the department, which has about 50,000 employees at its 13,419 post offices, has started taking various steps towards digitisation to make it a customer-friendly, self-sustaining, and technology-driven entity.

“Since it has been found that the postal systems throughout the world that have not modernised are losing money, the Pakistan Post is dedicated to digitising its services for improved department performance,” said Asad Aziz, assistant deputy director general (P) of Pakistan Post, while talking to WealthPK. Pakistan Post has taken several actions over the past few years in an effort to incorporate contemporary technologies and maintain its competitiveness with the private sector. It has started using a mobile app. The main goal of this app is to improve services and keep its clients informed in order to satisfy their growing expectations.

“The app allows complaint handling, track and trace, e-commerce, delivery, parcel collect, complaints, tariffs, post office locations, postcodes, and other relevant information about the postal services,” he said. “Pakistan Post has established Amazon Facilitation Centres in important cities, including Karachi, Gujrat, Multan, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Sialkot, and Gujranwala. This step will facilitate export of garments, fruits, sports goods, pharmaceutical items, etc. worldwide,” he added. “The billion-dollar parcel export industry, which was formerly served at exorbitant prices by the local and foreign private couriers, is also a goal for the Pakistan Post.

With a goal to deliver worldwide in 72 hours, the department has taken the required preparations to target the market,” said the assistant deputy director general. Urgent Mail Service (UMS) – an overnight home delivery service that is quick, dependable, effective, and secure – has been founded with the largest network for distribution of documents and parcels. Similarly, as online shopping is becoming more popular, offering cash on delivery (COD) service has become more crucial with each passing day. “The COD method is intended to satisfy the needs of individuals and organisations that desire to pay for items shipped to them at the time of receipt of the items,” Asad said. Express Mail Service (EMS) is also made available from key domestic sites for 104 nations in order to transmit and deliver postal items quickly throughout the world.

“You may send packages, documents, and parcels through EMS – a truly worldwide, quick, and affordable method of sending packages, papers, and goods,” he added. For crucial and urgent things requiring fast delivery, the Pakistan Post has now launched Express Post for quick delivery of articles in large metropolitan areas on the day of booking. “The Electronic Money Order (EMO) service enables the users to send and receive money electronically using their smartphones or PCs. This will assist us in recovering the portion that was taken by the private businesspeople,” Asad said.

The service provided by Digital Franchise Post Offices is assisting the country’s e-commerce and cash-on-delivery industries by providing e-commerce merchants with speedy and dependable payments for the items they sell. “The EMO service provides a quick, secure, practical, and inexpensive way to transfer and receive money throughout Pakistan,” he pointed out. Additionally, the Pakistan Post has implemented a digital addressing system that gives each address a unique identifier, making it simpler to find and deliver mail. It is to be noted that Pakistan Post ranked 92 in 2018 according to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)’s World Postal Ranking. However, as a result of these efforts, UPU’s 2022 report saw a significant improvement. “In the UPU's Postal Ranking Index, Pakistan is now ranked 55th out of 162 countries,” Asad said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk