amount of remittance business done compared with 1971-72. Although the numbers of Money Orders issued and paid showed an increase compared with 1971-72, the commission earned on the remittance services as a whole, which amounted to $360,860, showed a decrease of $20,771 compared with the previous year.
29. The following shows a comparison of remittance business done during the year compared with the previous year:
Service
No.
Issued Amount
No.
Paid Amount
Money Order
1971-72
57,575
$6,496,368
56,887
$ 5,911,781
1972-73
65,802
$6,789,142
57,475
$ 4,973,421
Postal Order ..
1971-72
90,177
$3,537,024
1,203,240
$74,062,253
1972-73
81,324 $3,063,083
1,187,679
$73,451,617
Social Welfare Department-Public Assistance Scheme
30. Fifty post offices were involved in the payment to recipients of 171,591 cash coupons totalling in value $29,314,275. These figures compare with 114,038 cash coupons totalling $11,428,035 paid in the previous year, and represent increases of 50% in the number of pay- ments and 156% in the value of payments.
Business Reply Service
31. On the 31st March, 1973, there were 345 current business reply service licences, 64 having been issued and 54 cancelled during the year.
Postage Meter Machines
32. The increasing recognition by business houses of the advan- tages of using postage meter machines continues and the number licensed rose from 872 in 1971-72 to 991 in 1972-73. Postage collected through meter accounts was $36,800,000, an increase of $1,300,000, or 3.7%, over the preceding year.
POSTAL SERVICES
33. There was an increase of 2.3% in the total number of postal articles handled during the year-an estimated 252.1 million as com- pared with an estimated 246.5 million in the previous year.
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