Courier Companies want government to relook at PO amendments

Private courier companies have approached telecom minister A Raja demanding that the government hold fresh consultations with the industry before finalizing amendments to the Indian Post Office Act.

Private courier companies are opposed to the proposed amendments to the Post Office Act as it bars them from carrying letters and parcel below 150 gm and also seeks to limit foreign direct investment in the sector to 49 pct. The Bill also envisages that private courier companies who want to deliver letters below this slab (150 gm) be imposed a price multiple, which is five times more than the rates charged by India Post or 2.5 times of Speed Post rates.

“In an era of free economy, if the country is embracing any legislation of such nature, it would send a wrong image internationally and it would also wipe out a vibrant part of our economy,” the Express Industry Council of India, the body which represents over 80 pct of the private courier players said in a communication to Mr Raja.

The ECI response comes at a time when the ministry of communications under telecom minister A Raja has revived work on amendments to the controversial postal bill. At the same time, the communications ministry is yet to take a call on whether the Bill would be introduced in the current session of parliament. Faced with strong protests from private courier players, the government had put the issue on the backburner for the last two months

Private courier companies also want the government to renegotiate on key issues like creation of a regulator for the postal sector called Mail Regulatory Development Authority and also on the proposal that mandates large courier companies to pay 10 pct of their total revenues as universal social obligation fee as in the telecom sector.