ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Post has upgraded its express mail network and is going to launch a new service ‘UMS Overnight’ by revamping its mail transmission and delivery arrangements for nine major cities.

Pakistan Post Director General Hafiz Shakeel Ahmad told Dawn here on Sunday that the new express service would be launched from Tuesday initially for Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Rawalpindi and Islamabad and later it would be expanded to other areas throughout the country.

The salient features of the UMS overnight system included next day delivery in the designated nine cities, computerised booking and delivery with track and trace facilities, separate service indicators, barcode labels, SMS alert at the time of booking as well as on delivery, an ideal service for important documents requiring immediate and safe delivery.

About delivery charges, the DG said it would be an air mail which, obviously, cost much but in order to establish trust amongst customers and facilitate people, prices would not be high and kept rational. Pakistan Post has also been working on other plans so that safe and quick delivery is ensured by all means, said Mr Ahmad, who only recently took charge of the mailing department.

“First, we will focus on improving quality in order to restore our reliability. Previously, there were delivery problems because a large number of trained and experienced postmen retired and new staff was not hired. Lack of resources was also a big problem. But now Minister for Communication Maulana Asad Mehmood has taken notice of these issues and promised to take all steps to resolve them,” he said. For this purpose, 1,000 motorbikes have been purchased and distributed amongst the postmen in order to quicken the delivery system, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2023