Consultation on the revision of postal rates

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The Communication Authority has launched a public consultation on the revision of postal rates, which could see an increase in the cost of registered mail and mail abroad.

In a statement released on Monday, the MCA said that last year MaltaPost made two requests for price increases.

MaltaPost’s first request was to revise the tariffs for national single-piece and bulk mailings, and domestic and foreign outgoing registered mail.

The second was to review certain tariffs abroad from a room abroad.

The MCA is consulting on the approval of these rate increases.

According to MaltaPost, as internal costs continuously increased, it faced competition for last mile delivery, with these challenges weighing heavily on the financial performance of the universal postal service.

In addition, the increase in external costs also had an impact on the sustainability of the service.

During its evaluation process, MCA received the multi-year forecast from MaltaPost
reflecting the projected financial performance, both without and with the proposed increases.

“Although the MCA considers all of these forecasts to be relevant, fiscal year 2021 cannot be considered a ‘normal year’ given the COVID-19 situation, and therefore the MCA’s analysis gives greater relevance to the long-term impact when the disruption caused by the pandemic gradually declines, ”he said in his report.

Nonetheless, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital substitution trends that appear unlikely to reverse. Due account is also taken of the international development of terminal dues for cross-border mail imposed by the UPU in recent years.

The MCA added that while price increases support revenues, especially in the short term, future trends in volumes and costs are open to continued increases.

This means that the price increases by themselves may have limited effectiveness in ensuring long-term sustainability, he added.

The consultation period is open until June 21.

Attachments


  • MaltaPost Price request – Consultation

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