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Substantial increase in postage rates ‘due to past losses’
Increase in postage rates necessary to make MaltaPost’s service sustainable, says Malta Communications Authority
15 January 2014, 12:00am
James J. Piscopo
James J. Piscopo
1 min read
The increases in prices include a 50% and 200% increase in newspaper post.
The increase in postage rates was necessary to make MaltaPost's service sustainable, a spokesperson for the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) told MaltaToday.
Local mail remained unchanged at 26c but increases from 32c to 42c for letters weighing 50-100g.
"The authority wanted to balance the consumer's interest and the sustainability of the operator. We had to take into consideration several factors, such as the continuous drop in local post and recent developments which negatively affected MaltaPost's service of international mail," an MCA spokesperson said.
The increases in prices include a 50% and 200% increase in newspaper post. The spokesperson justified this substantial increase, underlining that this service was registering financial loss to MaltaPost.
"Newspaper post was no longer sustainable, prices had to be revised. Despite this, the MCA was conscious of the social aspect of this service and thus MaltaPost's requests were only partly approved," she said.
Since not all the proposed revisions were approved, MaltaPost did not agree with the MCA's conclusions. It noted that the proposed tariff changes are a step in the right direction but argued that they are not enough.
In the MCA's final decision published on 24 December, MaltaPost is also quoted saying that further changes in prices would be required by 1 October 2014.
Contacted by this newspaper, MaltaPost remained tight-lipped on price increases and refused to answer questions for the past week.
Other increases approved in the past weeks also affected letter mail to Europe, climbing from 37c to 59c for 20g letters; and for international registered mail, from €2.25 to €3.
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The Postage Prices charged by MaltaPost were unsustainable and in real terms unrealistic in this the 21st Century when you compare them with those in the rest of the EU.
Even I took advantage of the price differential to post Christmas Cards to EU countries and the Rest of the World when compared with those of the UK but in the knowledge that things would change before long.
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The Postage Prices charged by MaltaPost were unsustainable and in real terms unrealistic in this the 21st Century when you compare them with those in the rest of the EU.
Even I took advantage of the price differential to post Christmas Cards to EU countries and the Rest of the World when compared with those of the UK but in the knowledge that things would change before long.
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The MCA's abandonment of the consumers in these 6-monthly price hikes of MaltaPost is in itself generating the death nell of MaltaPost as people will use alternative means - unfortunately stationers will loose out too as fewer and fewer people will send birthday, christmas, easter cards etc and the postal system is gradually being destroyed. When are we going to have real competition in the Postal System as required by EU legislation. Only competition and not continuous price hikes can save the Postal System.
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Postage is still affordable a few cents won't make a big difference to myself.
