Poor start to South Africa’s bid to regulate courier firms
Only about 5% of the thousands of courier companies that should have applied for licences under new regulations have done so, according to estimates by the South African Express Parcel Association. This signals a poor start to government’s efforts to regulate the industry. Companies transporting items that weigh less than 30kg had to apply for licences by May under new regulations introduced mainly to protect the Post Office from unfair competition. The Postal Regulator was expected to issue the first batch of licences at a ceremony on Friday. Garry Marshall, executive director of the association, said yesterday that all the large operators such as Fedex, DHL, TNT and Sun Couriers had applied for licences. They account for about 80% of the industry, which has turnover of more than R6bn a year.
Read More