Post Office - Buttala

Sri Lanka Post is one of the oldest and important government services in the country. It has been functional and operational for more than two centuries now and is still playing a vital role in the community.

Due to my sister's online business, I deal a lot with the Postal services, mainly due to the lower charges. So let me share my recent experience with the Buttala Post Office, and a few details about it.

The Location

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It's within walking distance (around 250m) of the Buttala stand, along the Monaragal-Wellawaya main road. It's located in a rich neighborhood, in front of the Buttala Peoples' Bank main office. Because of its prime location and the many people who come to the city, the post office is busy most of the time.

As you can see in the image above, a big name board and an iconic Postbox can be seen in front of it, and there are two entrances to the premises.

There's a big garden, and it has more than enough parking spaces available even on a busy day. And it's also well cleaned and maintained to a satisfactory level. The newly painted building provides a positive vibe for the people.

The Parking and the Garden

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The Sri Lankan postal service was initiated in 1798 under the Dutch rule, with five post offices. Now it has been expanded up to 22,000+ employees and 4738 post offices across the country.

General Details

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This new building of Buttala Post Office was constructed on the 15th of July, 1983. But I'm pretty sure the service has been up and running for earlier than that.

• Post code - 91100
• Short code - BZ
• Grade - Class I

Services

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• Mail Services (Local/Foreign & Normal/ registered post) - letters up to 2kg, postcards, and parcels up to 20kg
• Courier Services - up to 40kg
• Express Mail Service (EMS)
• Cash on Delivery (COD)
• Philatelic Products
• Utility Payment Services - Electricity, water, & Telephone bills, Motor Traffic Fines
• Money Order Services, Foreign e-remittances (NSB) & Western Union Money Transfer
• Pension and Social Payments - Teacher’s salary, Pension Payment, Farmer Pension, etc
  Full lost

Prices

There's a list of prices which is displayed in the office, for every category (letters/ parcels/ courier). So, according to that, the rates are calculated by the weight.

Letters can be sent up to 2kg, and different rates are taken for normal and registered posts. There's a range of weights for which these prices are calculated. It's the same for both the parcel and courier services as well.

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In the Buttala office, there are two counters; one for money orders like COD, Utility payments, and the other for prepaid services. On my visit, it was not very crowded, so I could finish my work quickly.

The main contingency of the Postal services, and especially here, is the lack of technology usage. There are so many staff in the inside, stil writing, writing, and writing on paers. Just one computer, and a very old printer with it. So, it takes a very long time to process the work.

When comparing with the other courier services, Postal charges are less, and I have checked sending the same letter at the same time via different methods. The time is almost the same. With already established infrastructure, the Postal Service can generate a big revenue in Sri Lanka, if it upgrades and increases the customer service.

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I sent a small parcel of crochet clothes, which is around 250g in weight, via speed post. They have a small scale, and I have to fill out a form with the basic details. The parcel need to be properly taped, as hundreds of items are carried with this. They don't care much about the safety, so we need to be careful and properly tie them. It took me just less than 5 minutes, and the cost was Rs 250 (6 Steems).

The Place	Post Office - Buttala
Type of place	Goverment serive office
Opening days and hours	Monday - Friday - 8.30 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. & Saturday - 8.30 a.m. - 12.00 p.m.
Location	on Google Maps
Contact Number	+94552273950
Website/ Social Media	https://slpost.gov.lk/
Time of Visit	5th of August, 2025
Customer Service	Satisfied, Needs to be improved and upgraded with the new technology

So, after all, it was a positive experience with the Postal Office Buttala.

Until the next time! Enjoy!

Thank you.
Best Regards!