U.S. Postal Regulator Approves Online Filing

The U.S. Postal Rate Commission, bowing to modernity, wants parties filing documents with it to do so electronically over the Internet. ‘This will allow the commission and others to apply modern technology to certain routine procedures,’ the Postal Rate Commission said in a proposed rule published Tuesday. ‘This should reduce the burden and expense associated with traditional hard copy filing,’ the commission said, specifying postage as one of the areas where savings will be achieved. The commission said it has ‘preliminarily concluded that it is feasible and desirable to make electronic filing of documents over the Internet the standard procedure for filing official documents with the commission.’ The commission makes recommendations on postal rates and related matters to the board of governors of the U.S. Postal Service. Under the proposal rule, use of the so-called Filing Online system would be mandatory. Waivers of the online filing requirement could be obtained if a party demonstrates a special circumstance making online filing unfeasible. The commission said it has developed a user interface to support the electronic filing of documents by participants in its proceedings, and that tests of this interface have shown it to be ‘secure, reliable, and user-friendly.’ The commission said it expects to have Filing Online rules in place and to implement the system this summer. Comments on the proposal are due by June 21. Documents that are filed through Filing Online will be posted on the commission’s Web site and will be available for downloading by the public, normally on the same business day they are submitted, the commission said.