Postal Authority rails over 'illegal' mail service

The Postal Authority is demanding that the Communications Ministry immediate stop “illegal” mail delivery by a private bulk-mail company and inform the operators that they are breaking the law.

Authority chairman and acting director-general Yossi Shelli told ministry director- general Uri Olnick that the private company, called Meizam Hadoar Hahadash, is delivering bulk mail from Pelephone and Leumi Card without authorization. The law gives the Postal Authority a monopoly in letter delivery; private companies can legally deliver packages.

Shelli said that many letters delivered by Meizam are arriving at the wrong address, especially those addressed to post office boxes. The private company, he said, is giving the authority a bad name, and represents unfair competition for the public authority, which must provide many services, such as mobile post offices in sparsely populated areas, at a loss.

Shelli said the authority monopoly of letter delivery should be maintained at least until the market opens to fair competition. In the meantime, the ministry should prevent “illegal and unprofessional activity of competitors that try to establish facts on the ground,” he said.

The authority appealed to Pelephone and Leumi Card to stop patronizing unauthorized companies.