PART XIII
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL
Provision of postage stamps
84.—(1)  The Corporation may, in consultation with the Minister, cause postage stamps to be provided of such kinds and denoting such values as the Corporation may determine for the purposes of this Act.
(2)  Any postage stamp provided under this section shall be used for the prepayment of any postage or other sum chargeable under this Act in respect of any postal article, except where the Corporation determines that prepayment may be made in some other manner.
Power to deal with postal articles posted in contravention of this Act
85.—(1)  Any postal article sent by post which is suspected to be sent in contravention of this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be detained and opened by the Corporation.
(2)  The detention of a postal article under subsection (1) shall not exempt the sender from any proceedings which might have been taken if the postal article had been delivered in due course of post.
(3)  Any postal article sent in contravention of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be destroyed, returned to the sender or dealt with in such manner as the Corporation may direct.
Recovery of postage and other sums due in respect of postal articles
86.  Where any postage or other fee or sum is not prepaid or fully prepaid in respect of a postal article posted for delivery in Singapore, the Corporation may refuse to deliver the postal article until the postage or other fee or sum has been paid to or recovered by the Corporation.
Official marks to be prima facie evidence of certain facts denoted
87.  In any proceedings for the recovery of any postage or other fee or sum payable under this Act in respect of a postal article —
(a)the production of a postal article having thereon the official mark of the Corporation denoting that the article has been refused or that the addressee is dead or cannot be found shall be prima facie evidence of the fact so denoted; and
(b)the person from whom any postal article purports to come shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be the sender thereof.
Official marks to be evidence of amount of postage due
88.  The official mark or label on a postal article denoting that any postage or other fee or sum is due in respect thereof to the Corporation or to the postal authority of any foreign country shall be prima facie evidence that the postage or other fee or sum denoted is so due.
Precautions in execution of work
89.  The execution of any work by the Corporation under this Act which may affect any street, railway, river, canal, or other waterway or any system of irrigation, drainage or water supply or any telecommunications, harbour works or any other public or private works, and the erection of any Corporation’s installation or plant whether over, on or under the ground shall be carried out in a lawful manner having regard to the safety of any person or property.
Exemption from distress and attachment of Corporation’s installation or plant
90.  No Corporation’s installation or plant shall be subject to distress or be liable to be taken in execution under any process of a court in any bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings against any person.
Compensation for damages caused to Corporation’s installation or plant
91.—(1)  Any person who removes, destroys or damages, whether wilfully or otherwise, the installation or plant belonging to the Corporation shall be liable to pay compensation for the damage he has done and the compensation shall be recoverable by civil action or suit before any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2)  Subject to subsection (1), any court before which a person is charged with an offence under this Act may assess the compensation payable under this section and may make an order for the payment of the same.
(3)  Any order under subsection (2) may be enforced as if it were a judgment in a civil action or suit.
Offences committed by body corporate
92.  Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under this Act and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Power to compound
93.—(1)  Any police officer not below the rank of inspector specially authorised by name in that behalf by the Minister, or any employee of the Corporation specially authorised by name in that behalf by the chief executive, may in his discretion compound any such offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder as may be prescribed as being an offence which may be compounded by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding $100.
(2)  The Corporation may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations prescribing the offences which may be compounded and the method and procedure by which such offences may be compounded under this section.
(3)  All sums of money received for the composition of offences under this section shall be paid into the funds of the Corporation.
General penalties
94.  Any person guilty of an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder for which no penalty is expressly provided shall, in addition to the forfeiture of any article seized, be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.
Public Prosecutor to sanction prosecution
95.—(1)  No proceedings for an offence punishable under this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be instituted except by or with the sanction of the Public Prosecutor.
(2)  Any employee of the Corporation or any police officer may conduct such a prosecution on behalf of the Corporation.
Saving of prosecutions under other laws
96.  Nothing in this Act shall prevent any person from being prosecuted under any other written law for any act or omission which constitutes an offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder, or from being liable under that other written law to any punishment or penalty higher or other than that provided by this Act or the regulations, but no person shall be punished twice for the same offence.
Excluded matters
97.  This Act shall not apply to —
(a)the licensing of any broadcasting station under the Broadcasting and Television Act [Cap. 28] or of any broadcasting apparatus or any dealing in broadcasting apparatus under the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation Act [Cap. 297]; and
(b)any other matter relating to broadcasting or television under the Broadcasting and Television Act [Cap. 28] or the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation Act [Cap. 297].
Regulations
98.—(1)  The Corporation may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for any purpose for which regulations are required to be made under this Act and generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
(2)  Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Corporation may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations for or with respect to all or any of the following matters:
(a)the proficiency examinations, including the syllabi and the details thereof, for the certification of competency of individuals operating telecommunication services or for the grant of any licence by the Corporation;
(b)the classes and the conditions for the grant of licences by the Corporation;
(c)the control and regulation of dealing in and use of telecommunication equipment;
(d)the control and regulation of interference by electric or other means to telecommunications in Singapore;
(e)the manner of appointment, conduct and discipline and the terms and conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Corporation;
(f)the establishment of funds for the payment of gratuities and other benefits to the officers and employees of the Corporation;
(g)the acceptance, transmission by post, detention and disposal of postal articles;
(h)the supply, sale and use of postage stamps;
(i)the limit of amount of money that may be remitted through the Corporation and the manner and conditions under which such money may be remitted;
(j)the articles or things which may not be transmissible by post;
(k)the types of articles not to be treated as letters;
(l)the manner of addressing, receiving, delivering, collecting and distributing mail bags and postal articles;
(m)the conditions and restrictions for the payment of indemnity for the loss of or damage to postal articles where indemnity is payable under this Act; and
(n)the registration of postal articles and the cases where insurance of postal articles may be required.
Transitional provisions
99.—(1)  Any scheme, contract, document, licence, permission or resolution prepared, made, granted or approved under the repealed Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act 1974 [1/74] or the repealed Post Office Act [1970 Ed. Cap. 84] shall, except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act or in any other written law, continue and be deemed to have been prepared, made, granted or approved by the Corporation under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
(2)  Any subsidiary legislation made under the repealed Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act 1974 or the repealed Post Office Act and in force immediately before 1st October 1982 shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue in force as if made under this Act until it is revoked or replaced by subsidiary legislation made under this Act.
(3)  Where anything has been commenced by or on behalf of the former Telecommunication Authority or the Postal Department before 1st October 1982, that thing may be carried on and completed by, or under the authority of the Corporation.
(4)  In any written law, any reference to the former Telecommunication Authority or the Postal Department shall be construed as a reference to the Corporation.