Sepomex forced to face unfair competition from postal companies

The unfair competition of around 6,000 postal companies has hit Servicio Postal Mexicano (Sepomex – Mexican Postal Service) very hard as it has lost 40% of corporate clients and lost income of 500 million pesos (US$52.6 million) per year, reported Santiago Ontaón, director of operations.One of Sepomex’s competitors is Servicio Continental de Mensajera (SCM), which has managed to grab clients such as Bancomer, “the second most important client in the Mexican postal system,” said Ontaón. Bancomer alone has 6.5 million account holders. Although the firm is offering strong competition, it has an extremely low profile. The head offices are in a house in the Colonia del Valle residential neighborhood in Mexico City, while postal workers use no uniforms and the envelopes themselves bear practically no sign of the firm apart from a small logo.The Transport and Communications Secretariat (SCT) plans to back a reform of the sector in September, which would be designed to stop these companies taking advantage of “legal loopholes.” This would also mean that any post of under 350 grams would be delivered by Sepomex.