KUALA LUMPUR: The postage rate hike has given back what had been overdue to Pos Malaysia Bhd for over 10 years in terms of tariff, Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia former chairman Datuk Mohd Redza Shah said.
“Our postage tariff is probably one of the cheapest in the world – another factor that tells you (that) it is time for a big change,” he told Bernama.
He said of late there were more new housing developments which require more mail deliveries, hence, a higher delivery cost.
Mohd Redza cited Pos Malaysia’s courier business which sends goods everywhere in the country even to rural areas.
“Companies like DHL and others (on the contrary) do not courier everywhere in the country, they are selective… If it is rural areas, they don’t have the cost of serving the unprofitable areas which Pos Malaysia has (to bear).
“And as for the banking industry, in terms of postage cost, they have reduced it substantially as bills are now sent online and they encourage all their customers to do online statement checking.
“However, some customers might request their statements every six months. So, it’s basically upon their requests,” he said, adding that the cost of sending the statements is very expensive as the letters had to be printed and folded, and worst still if somebody were to open them, the confidentiality is lost.
Mohd Redza, however, encouraged the public to opt for online statements to avoid any confidentiality issue.
He added that the only time postage is preferred is if the customers did not pay up their dues, so the banks would then remind via phone calls and (hardcopy) statements or email.
On who should bear the extra cost, he said it has got to be passed on to the consumers as they were the ones who decide how they prefer to receive the statements, either through the traditional way or e-billing.
“It is just like using the cheque book, if you want to use the book the banks will charge 50 sen (to process a cheque), but you can also opt for an online transfer at no cost. In my view, it should be absorbed by the consumers… the choice has been given to them,” he said.
Pos Malaysia yesterday announced new postage rates for registered mail, commercial mail and small parcels below two kg, effective Feb 1, 2020.
The new rates, it said, were the result of rising operational costs and the increase in the international rate structure by the Universal Postal Union.
Stamp rates for commercial mail will increase by 70 sen to RM1.30 and the price of commercial private letterboxes will go up by RM150 to RM200 a year, while the postage of commercial registered mail will increase by 90 sen to RM3.10 and non-commercial registered mail will leap 20 sen to RM2.40.
As far as small parcels below 2kg are concerned, following the UPU Extraordinary Congress in Geneva in September 2019, international postal services saw an increase in last-mile delivery costs of up to 30 per cent starting January 2020, while last-mile delivery costs in the US will further increase by some 210 per cent in July 2020.
Pos Malaysia said the postage rates for personal and non-commercial mail users will be maintained at the current 60 sen level. In the same vein, there will be no increase in the prices of non-commercial private letterboxes.
The postal tariffs were last adjusted in 2010.
Earlier in its note, RHB Investment Bank said it expects Pos Malaysia Bhd to post a turnaround and return to profitability in the near term following the hike of its postage rates.
“Following the rate revisions, we expect Pos Malaysia to return to profitability in the financial year 2021 forecast (FY21F), boosted by a turnaround in earnings for its postal services and international businesses, which registered segmental losses of RM115.7 million and RM16 million in the first half of the financial year 2020 respectively,” it said. – Bernama
