Bangladesh: regulating private courier services
According to a recent media report, the interim government has ‘in principle’ approved a proposal of bringing the private courier services under legal coverage. The courier services, according to the proposal, would need registration to operate anywhere in the country. The council of advisors meeting held last week asked the law ministry for a further scrutiny of the proposed amendments to the Post Office Act that does not endorse private postal services. The draft amendments have sought to streamline the courier services being provided by the private sector widely across the country because of postal department’s often-lazy services as alleged.
Private courier service operators must follow certain rules to be specified by law and the government should have control over the fees they take from the people.
The legal framework under which the private courier services would run, when the proposed legislation comes into force, is expected to make them more responsible to enjoy the confidence of the people as a whole for such services. The charges would also be uniform following implementation of the government rules. The government should also turn its attention also to its own postal department for improvement of the services being provided through its countrywide network for the overall benefit of the people.
According to a recent media report, the interim government has ‘in principle’ approved a proposal of bringing the private courier services under legal coverage. The courier services, according to the proposal, would need registration to operate anywhere in the country. The council of advisors meeting held last week asked the law ministry for a further scrutiny of the proposed amendments to the Post Office Act that does not endorse private postal services. The draft amendments have sought to streamline the courier services being provided by the private sector widely across the country because of postal department’s often-lazy services as alleged.
Private courier service operators must follow certain rules to be specified by law and the government should have control over the fees they take from the people.
The privately run courier services do not also reach all the places, as they prefer easy routes under their limited networks connecting mostly divisional and district headquarters. Private courier business proliferated over the years offering services like sending documents, parcels and money to different destinations, mostly in towns, well connected by roads. Postal services are provided with well-defined rates of charges fixed by the government. The private service providers are free to charge any rate they themselves consider competitive.
The legal framework under which the private courier services would run, when the proposed legislation comes into force, is expected to make them more responsible to enjoy the confidence of the people as a whole for such services. The charges would also be uniform following implementation of the government rules. The government should also turn its attention also to its own postal department for improvement of the services being provided through its countrywide network for the overall benefit of the people.
