Increasing postage rates will only solve the problem temporarily, as with any problems that can be solved with money.

If you have been to any POS branches, you would have notice the things that can go wrong with a mail delivery company.

Stamp prices to increase from July

KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (Bernama) — The price of domestic postage stamps will be higher effective this July as part of Pos Malaysia Bhd’s strategy to improve its productivity and efficiency.

This will be the first time for Pos Malaysia to revise the price since its corporatisation in 1992, the company said in a statement here today.

Its Group managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar said the increase would provide additional funds for them to provide better quality of service at par with international best practices.

“Over the past 18 years, we have witnessed continuous decline in public mail volume and Pos Malaysia has taken various measures to contain costs whilst maintaining our productivity,” he said.

At the same time, this has affected the company’s ability to adjust the low salaries of its postmen and counter clerks which is 19 per cent lower than their government counterparts, he added.

“The restructuring of the salary for postmen and counter clerks will be done concurrently with the increase in the price for domestic postage stamps,” said Syed Faisal.

The restructuring of the salaries would be a positive morale boost for the operations staff in line with its move to improve their productivity and commitment towards providing better quality of service.

Upon implementation, the price for domestic postage stamps for standard mail weighing up to 20 grams will be revised from 30 sen to 60 sen and for up to 50 grams, it will be revised from 40 sen to 70 sen.

The increase in price would also involve standard mail below 50 grams, non-standard mail below 100 grams, periodicals, PosDokumen, registered mail and parcels below two kilogrammes.

However, the increase is not applicable for non-standard mail above 100 grams up to two kilogrammes, PO Box, locked bag and window delivery.

Currently, Pos Malaysia’s domestic postage stamp (30 sen for standard mail weighing up to 20 grams) is the second lowest in ASEAN after Thailand.

Comparatively, among ASEAN countries, the Philippines’ domestic postage stamp price (at the same weight step) is the highest at 66 sen, followed by Singapore (62 sen), Indonesia (54 sen) and Brunei (47 sen).

Meanwhile, in line with the Government’s 1Malaysia aspiration, Pos Malaysia will introduce Mel Rakyat in May to address the needs of the people who would still prefer to use postal service at a lower price.

Mel Rakyat, which is similar to Aerogramme in its form and function, will be also priced at a single rate of 30 sen for postage to anywhere within Malaysia.

With Mel Rakyat, the individual customers who make up nine per cent of Pos Malaysia’s total mail volume, can still have the option of enjoying a lower postage rate for their domestic mail needs.

As it is, POS is having a serious identity crisis. It’s trying to be everything to everyone. You can renew your road tax & insurance to subscribe to unit trust funds. Yes, it sure does generate extra revenue to the company, but definitely at the expense of their existing mailing service’s quality.

It can be misleading to compare our postage rates with other neighboring countries. POS probably justify this comparison because it’s easy to compare and benchmark quantitative factors, and easy to send their message across the average consumers.

This comparison is not only irrelevant, it also gives a very inaccurate depiction of the actual issue. Maybe a qualitative comparison, such as customer satisfaction and delivery accuracy rates would give a better idea how our national courier service fare. Almost every week I check my mailbox, there are bound to be ‘stray’ mails which was addressed to someone else. Also, the last time I sent a parcel to US, their ‘Track and Trace’ didn’t work.

And we haven’t even take into account issues such as cost of living, mailing volumes etc.

The very fact that private courier companies are flourishing and prospering is a good testament to POS’s ability to provide competent service to their consumers.

The next question is, why is improvements tied to increase in cost to the consumers? Have the management looked into how to reduce waste in their pipelines? Are the delivery routes planned as effectively as they could?

The almost-double increment in postage fees might even be disastrous for POS. With a higher postage rate, this will give opportunities to creative private courier companies to tap into a new market. I can imagine a scenario where 7-11s nationwide becomes collection centers. In order to reduce shipping charges, recipients can choose to retrieve their parcels at the nearest 7-11 outlet. 7-11 and courier companies each get a cut from the shipping charges, and customers (senders and recipients) win by getting their parcels at half the normal rate. And mailing volume increases as a side effect.

Businesses will be the first to switch when there’s a cheaper and better alternative. And more people will start sending their love and kisses the electronic way.

DOMESTIC POSTAGE TARIFF – Effective 1 July 2010

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