Postal Regulatory Commission sets date for comments on USPS

The Postal Regulatory Commission has set set April 20 as the deadline for comments on the U.S. Postal Service’s request to allow the testing of the placement of repositionable notes on mailing envelopes until April 2, 2008.

The USPS filed a request with the PRC on April 2 to postpone the April 3 termination date for the repositionable notes test and extend the termination date for one additional year.

RPNs are sticky notes that can be placed on envelopes, catalogs, magazines or newspapers to highlight information or an offer. Because the notes can be removed easily, the recipient can place them somewhere handy as a reminder of the offer. The service was implemented on April 3, 2005.

“The Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission are now actively involved with implementation of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act,” the filing said. “At the dawn of this new era for determining postal rates, fees and classifications, discussion of how RPNs fit is premature. This request accordingly seeks to extend the termination date for RPN provisional service one additional year.”

The USPS also said that the filing of the request acts to postpone the current termination date. The USPS was granted a one-year extension of the repositionable note program in 2006 to take it through April 3, 2007.

At the time, the USPS said the extension was needed to make sure there is no disruption in service to customers planning spring mailings using RPNs, also known as “yellow stickies.”

RPNs are allowed on all letter- and flat-sized mail sent at discount First Class, Standard and Periodicals rates. The rate for RPN-bearing mail is 0.5 cents for First Class pieces and 1.5 cents for Standard and Periodicals pieces