KUALA LUMPUR: Pos Malaysia Bhd will be revising commercial postage rates effective Feb 1, 2020, saying that the move will not affect the rakyat.
In a statement today, it said the move is in tandem with the rising operation costs and the increase in the international rate structure by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which has changed the global postal landscape and prompted Pos Malaysia to transform the postal system for greater efficiency.
The last revision of postage rates was in 2010.
Pos Malaysia said it will continue to provide affordable postage rates for personal and non-commercial mail users at the current domestic stamp rate of 60 sen.
The revised postage rates will only apply to registered mails, commercial mails and small parcels below 2kg, Pos Malaysia said, adding that its commercial clients represent 95 per cent of all mail users in Malaysia with only five per cent comprising individual mail users.
According to Pos Malaysia website, commercial stamp rate will be increased by 70 sen to RM1.30 and commercial registered mail up 90 sen to RM3.10.
Pos Malaysia said its various commercial clients ranging from banking, telecommunications to retail have expressed support towards the new postage rates, as it is deemed reasonable and would have minimal impact on their businesses.
Its group chief executive officer Syed Md Najib Syed Md Noor said the new postage rates will allow them to better support their costs to serve over nine million addresses nationwide under the Universal Service Obligation.
“Concurrently, we aim to align our growth with the booming digital economy by embracing innovation to improve service efficiency and customer experience.
“It is necessary to embark on an aggressive growth plan to remain relevant in the industry as the world is moving towards Industrial Revolution 4.0,” he said.
Syed Md Najib said Pos Malaysia will continue to invest in digitalisation and its e-commerce infrastructure as part of its transformation agenda to boost its performance as a service provider with the widest reach in the country.
Digitalisation is crucial to propel Pos Malaysia’s business further and this is evident by looking at the country’s mobile penetration which is well above 100 per cent, a great milestone achieved by the government in growing Malaysia’s digital economy, he said.
He said the e-commerce sector in Malaysia is expected to grow up to 30 per cent in 2020.
“Hence, Pos Malaysia must gear up with the current technology advancement to claim market dominance and become the centre of e-commerce for the country,” he said.
International postal services saw an increase in the last mile delivery cost of up to 30 per cent for a small parcel below 2 kg, beginning January 2020 following the decision by the Universal Postal Union from the Geneva Extraordinary Congress in Sept 2019, affecting postal operators globally.