Postage rates are likely to increase as key members of the legislature’s Transportation Committee voiced their support for adjusting Chunghwa Post’s postage pricing scheme.
A proposal to raise postage rates was discussed at a question-and-answer session at the committee’s meeting yesterday, when committee members were briefed about the postal company’s budget plan for fiscal 2017.
Postage rates have remained the same for the past 26 years, but the consumer price index rose by 40 percent over the same period, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said.
The cost of sending ordinary mail in Taiwan is even lower than that in China, he said, adding that the company should adjust postage rates to reflect the increase in delivery costs.
The postal company continues to issue stamps with face values of NT$2.50 or NT$3.50, DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said.
Although the central bank has not officially pulled NT$0.50 coins from circulation, people rarely see them in the market, as prices are usually rounded, Cheng said, adding that the last time the central bank minted the coins was in 1988.
Cheng suggested that the postal company round the postage rates for private mail.
The handling of commercial mail, on the other hand, should be divided into different levels based on weight, with the rate increasing by NT$5 as the weight increases, he said.
Individuals or businesses sending bulk mail should be given discounts, he said.
The company’s postal delivery service, which is its main business, last year booked a loss of about NT$400 million (US$12.9 million), but in reality the loss reached NT$3 billion, DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
Lin said the company could not have posted a net profit of NT$9.8 billion if it were not for the revenue generated by its other businesses.
He asked when the company would raise postage rates to stop the losses.
Chunghwa Post chairman Philip Ong (翁文祺) said that management has studied the issues related to postage rates, and the firm has hired independent accountants to assess the rates.
Ong said the company has submitted its plan to adjust postage rates to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for approval, and will choose the right time to implement the new rates if it is supported by lawmakers.
The adjustment of postage rates will not only stop losses from the company’s main business, but will also help sustain its operations for the next 10 years, which means that it will not have to propose another postage rate adjustment during that period, Ong said.
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