Russia’s Anti-Monopoly Policy Ministry announced Wednesday it has given the go-ahead to an average 12%-14% increase in rates for sending letters and small packages through the Federal Postal Service .
The new rates, which will take effect on December 1, are expected to just cover the service’s mail-handling costs.
Read MoreScotland will have at least three new players in postal delivery to compete with the embattled Royal Mail from next January, the industry regulator confirmed yesterday.
Postcomm said that it had begun consultation over the issue of seven-year standard UK licences to three companies Hays Commercial Services, TNT and TPG Post UK. Unlike Royal Mail, none of the trio will be regulated over prices.
Read MoreIndia Post should be reformed to offer more meaningful role in the new economy, said speakers at a two-day seminar on India Post-2010 organised by World Bank, Department of Post, Indian government and India Invest Economic Foundation.
The Indian postal network with 1,54,000 offices and over 10 lakh employees, can play a vital role in inter-connecting the country to provide upgraded payments system and e-governance, said speakers like chairman of OASIS Foundation SA Dave, Administrative Staff College principal EAS Sharma, IDBI Principal MD Sanjay Sachdev, ICICI Bank Joint MD Chanda Kochhar and Regional director (Asia Pacific) Transend Worldwide Limited among others. They suggested to evolve a prudential regulation for India Post before it diversifies into financial and other related sector.
Read MoreExpress delivery group Business Post yesterday revealed its alternative postal service, UK Mail, will finally hit the streets in the new year. Chief executive Paul Carvell said a long-running pricing dispute with Royal Mail has been resolved by the postal regulator, Postcomm, clearing the way for the launch of the service – originally scheduled for April this year.
Read MoreDeutsche Post has announced it will close 1,000 of its 13,000 post office branches and remove thousands of mailboxes from around the country. The new program is supposed to save EUR1.3 billion and comes in response to them being ordered by the European Commission to repay EUR572 million in illegal subsidies. Interest on the sum, payable to the German government, raises the total to EUR850 million. The subsidies took the form of stamp prices that, according to Germany’s postal regulator, exceeded the theoretical market-bearing price. DP was found guilty of using these monopoly profits to expand its logistics business. In addition to the EU fine, DP was forced to lower its average rates for letters and packages up to 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds) by 4 percent. DP, whose stated goal is to be one of the world’s largest logistics companies, announced that it was bundling all of its logistics and express delivery activities under its subsidiary DHL of which it owns 75 percent.
Read MoreRoyal Mail is considering merging some of Scotland’s rural post offices with local tourist information centres as part of its efforts to keep the struggling network afloat.
The postal operator, which formally ditched its Consignia moniker on Monday, has held preliminary talks with Visit-Scotland about the proposals.
Although still at an early stage, the move might help stave off closure for scores of rural post offices should it get the green light, providing a new source of income for Scotland’s cash-strapped postmasters.
Read MoreGlobal experience shows that financial services contribute 40-80 per cent of the revenues of the postal departments, according to Mr Hans Boon, vice president ING(FI I&GA), Head of PostBank International Consultancy. “Financial services sector is currently growing at a faster pace while growth in business from mail services is more or less dependent on the growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) of a country,” he said.
Read MorePostcomm today published the terms and conditions for the new standard postal
licence. This implements the decision, announced on 29 May 2002, to allow
rival operators to provide long-term mail services in competition with Royal Mail Group. The new licence will come into operation from I January 2003 and will have a minimum life of seven years. Up to now, with the exception of Royal Mail, all postal operators have been restricted to interim licences of a minimum of 12 months’ duration.
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