Q1 Why does SingPost levy an additional handling fee of $1 in addition to the unpaid postage if a mail is found with insufficient postage?
The handling fee of S$1 is to cover the administrative cost of collecting the unpaid postage. The postman has to personally call at the addressee’s house to deliver mail with insufficient postage instead of delivering the item into the letterbox under normal circumstances.

Q2 The sender of the mail is the one that underpays the mail postage. Why does SingPost collect the fee from the addressee rather than the sender?

There are a few reasons for this international practice:
a) The mail must be delivered as expeditiously as possible. SingPost will need time and resources to check and contact the sender and this may delay delivery;
b) Most senders also do not write their address or contact number on the mail item Hence, SingPost might not be able to trace the sender; and.
c) For confidentiality reasons, SingPost also does not open up mail items to check for such information without attempting to deliver them first.

It is also a postal practice worldwide to collect unpaid postage in addition to the handling fee from the addressee.

Q3 Does the addressees have the right to refuse payment of the handling fee and unpaid postage?
Yes, the addressee could reject the letter and hence is not obliged to pay any charges.

Q4 What happens to the mail item if the addressee rejects it?
SingPost is obliged to return the mail to the sender and claim the same charges
from the sender.

Q5 By asking the addressee to pay, isn’t this practice encouraging the sender to continue sending mail with insufficient postage?
There will be inconvenience to all parties if the correct postage is not paid. It is therefore important for the sender to check and apply the appropriate postage before posting. In this way, the mail will be processed expeditiously without delay and inconvenience to the addressee.