Tokyo Panel backs entry of 3 firms
An advisory panel for the posts minister said in a report Friday it would be appropriate to license three companies to provide mail delivery services, that were opened to the private sector in April.
The entry of the three companies will bring the number of firms licensed by the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry for limited mail delivery services to 11.
Among the three is Nagoya-based Meitetsu Transport Co., which will begin a new service of delivering pamphlets and official documents for the Nagoya municipal government to its branches, hospitals, fire departments and other related locations.
The Nagoya municipal government will be able to cut costs by delegating operations so far undertaken by its staff to an outside company.
A revision of the Mail Delivery Law in April opened up limited mail delivery services which have certain conditions, such as to deliver mail within three hours and on specific sizes of mail, as well as delivery services with stringent requirements such as to deliver mail every day to anywhere in Japan.
All 11 firms are in the limited mail delivery category and are mostly motorbike delivery companies, while there have been no companies that have entered the broad mail delivery category due to the stringent requirements.
Freight company Tokai Messenger Bb and another company began limited mail delivery services earlier this month, while four companies are scheduled to begin operating on July 1 and five others are expected to join between August and September.
Clients of the limited mail delivery services are expected to center on corporations for the time being, but the companies said they plan to expand their clients to individuals and local governments.
“There have been more companies entering (the market) than expected and this has given birth to business like that of Meitetsu Transport that can also be introduced in other areas,” said Tsugio Tajiri, acting chairman of the panel on postal administration.
A modern mail delivery system was established in Japan in 1871, and the government created a state monopoly two years later.
The revision of the Mail Delivery Law was part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s drive to liberalize postal services.
It also led to the April 1 creation of Japan Post to take over the three services of mail, postal savings and “kampo” life insurance from the governmental Postal Services Agency.
