An Post calls for review of price cap on postal charges

An Post has called on Ireland’s postal regulator, ComReg, for an urgent review of the current price cap on postal charges. In a letter sent to ComReg last week, An Post’s chief executive Donal Connell warned that the company will struggle to meet the universal service obligation (USO) because of its mounting costs and falling revenues.

Connell warned that the price An Post can charge for incoming cross-border mail from outside the EU (which was fixed by international agreements) is too low to cover the company’s costs.

“I cannot over emphasise the importance and urgency of this matter,” Connell said in his letter to ComReg.

According to local sources, processing and delivering inbound international mail accounts for almost 40% of the company’s total losses in providing a universal postal service.