From 1 January 1998, all express letter service providers will pay a much lower licence fee of $200 for a three year licence. Under the new class licensing scheme for express letter service, companies providing local and/or ...
Singapore, 18 December 1997 | For Immediate Release
From 1 January 1998, all express letter service providers will pay a much lower licence fee of $200 for a three year licence. Under the new class licensing scheme for express letter service, companies providing local and/or international express letter service will only need to pay a fee of $200 for three years when they register with TAS. This new fees represents a significant fee reduction of more than 90% from the current fees of $600 per annum for a local express letter service licence and $1,200 per annum for a domestic cum international express letter service licence.
The new class licence scheme is part of TAS' continuous efforts to regularly review its policies and enhance its organisational efficiency so as to reduce the operating costs of businesses. The new scheme will result in cost savings of $90,000 annually for the more than 100 express letter operators in Singapore.
With the new class licensing regime, existing express letter licensees will have their individual licence withdrawn and be deemed to have been granted a class licence under the newly enacted Telecommunication (Class Licences for Postal Services) Regulations. Licensees will be required to register with TAS upon expiry of their current licence, and pay the three-yearly fee of $200.
While there are a number of major players in Singapore, most of the express letter service providers are small enterprises each providing service to a very targeted and niche customer base. The fee reduction under the new class licensing scheme will bring the most savings to these small- and medium-sized firms. TAS hopes that the consumer will ultimately benefit from the industry's cost savings.
Ms Ng Cher Keng, Director (Policy) of TAS said, "A consumer in Singapore now has a wide choice of over 100 express letter companies providing a large variety of services ranging from door-to-door delivery, to overnight shipment, to conveyance with track-and-trace facility, at highly competitive rates. With intense competition in the express letter service market, we hope that licensees will pass down the reduction in licence fees to consumers in terms of even more competitive pricing."
Note to Editor:
Singapore Post Pte Ltd (SingPost) has the monopoly rights till 31 March 2007 to convey and deliver ordinary letters and postcards for which the next day delivery standard is applicable. The express letter service market has been liberalised since February 1995.
The definition of a local express letter is that it must be delivered and received by the same working day, and be charged more than $1 per item or 3 times SingPost's postage for a 20 gm ordinary letter, whichever is higher. An international express letter has a price floor of 3 times SingPost's postage for an ordinary 20 gm airmail letter to the same country of destination, and must be delivered faster than SingPost's published delivery standards for airmail letters. Incoming international express items should be delivered within the same working day.
Express letter conveyance is a premium letter delivery service and is separate from courier service which is targeted at the delivery of documents and parcels. Courier service is not regulated or licensed. Companies which do not deliver any "letter" item, but only handle parcels and printed matter, do not need an express letter licence to operate their business.
Printed matter, or second class mail, refers to magazines, catalogues, pamphlets, books, greeting cards, etc. which are unsealed and packed such that the contents can be easily examined.
.webp)