Qatar Post To Change Law On Courier Firms

A law regulating the operations of foreign and local courier firms in Qatar is expected to come into force early next year. A revised postal tarrif for mail will also be enforced around the same time, Ali Mohammad Al Ali, chairman of the General Postal Corporation (Q-Post), said yesterday, the Al Sharq daily reports. Ali said that the draft law on the operations of courier firms is with the Planning Council, which will later send it to other authorities. He said that Qatar was the only GCC state where courier companies were being allowed to function without proper regulations. The chairman revealed that some courier companies were continuing to violate the ban imposed on carrying local mail. Once the law is passed, he said, Q-Post will be able to impose penalties such as seizure of their licences. The law would also require all courier companies to seek accreditation and licensing from Q-Post and the postal administration will be entitled to a portion of their revenues, he said. According to Ali, another law on postal tarrifs, which have remained unchanged for nearly a decade, is also expected to be enforced early 2004. Q-Post has asked the Planning Council to offer a greater degree of autonomy to its board of directors, especially for fixing postage rates, he said. Under the new tarrif, the postage charged for an ordinary letter will be on a minimum of 20 grams weight instead of the current 10 grammes. Hence, postal charges will be lowered. However, for some services, the tarrifs may go slightly higher, he said. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways and Q-Post are currently developing a mail hub at the Doha International Airport to handle incoming and outbound mail between the east and west. This centre is expected to be opened early next year. In addition, Q-Post has also received approval from the Universal Postal Union to handle transit mail bound for Iraq once the Qatari national carrier starts flying to Basra and Baghdad.