Unlicensed courier operators to be flushed out
The Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission is to flush out illegal operators in the courier industry whose activities are depriving registered operators of business and the government of revenue.
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This was made known following a consultative meeting in Accra which was organised by the Commission to address the concerns of registered courier companies.
Strategies
At the meeting, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr Isaac Annan Riverson, said they would soon come out with stickers for registered operators and also publish the names of those in good standing annually.
He said the Commission had so far registered 100 operators, but only 70 were active.
Responding to concerns of the operators about allegations that the police sometimes harassed their personnel who used motorbikes to deliver services to clients, Mr Riverson said the legal operators could use the yet to be issued stickers on their delivery vans and motorbikes to distinguish them from the illegal operators.
"We assure you that we are doing our best to deal with the illegal operators. We have our monitoring department but we cannot be everywhere. For us to be able to do a good job, we need the support of the registered operators," Mr Riverson said.
He said the police administration had agreed to station some officers at the commission to help carry out swoop operations to flush out the illegal operators.
Mr Riverson urged the operators to form a functional association to take care of their concerns.
Mandate
He explained that the Commission was mandated by the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act - 2003 (Act 649) to issue licences and ensure sanity in the industry.
Mr Riverson explained further that a licence was issued for an initial period of five years, subject to annual renewals, after which the licence was extended for another five years.
He said aside non-registered operators, the commission was also worried about the failure of operators to renew their licences with the commission at the end of each year.
They "go under the radar" and continue doing business outside the law.
He said to ensure sanity, the commission would at the end of the year revoke the licences of such operators to safeguard the interest of those who operate within the law.
In a remark, the Board Chairman of the Commission, Mr R. Kofi Nyantekyi, said "the issue of illegal operators is as much a challenge to us, as it is for you."
He told the registered operators that the Commission was working with the Ministry of Communications and the police administration, to clamp down on the unlicensed operators.
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