Postal Corporation of Kenya has scrapped a product that exclusively targeted businesses following a dismal uptake. This will now be open to other postal users.
The ‘stand-alone’ letterboxes were introduced last year and tailored for premium customers as the corporation made attempts to explore new market segments. The letterboxes were located in upmarket areas including shopping malls and gated communities.
The corporation has, however, made an application to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to discontinue the stand-alone category due to what it said were changing market dynamics.
Posta instead proposed to open up the letters boxes to other users. Renting out letterboxes under this category costs Sh12,500 per year but once it is scrapped and they revert back to use by other postal customers, corporates will pay a reduced Sh10,960 per year, which is the standard rate for corporates renting the boxes. Individual users will pay Sh2,320.
"PCK has applied to CA for approval to discontinue renting out letterboxes under the category ‘stand-alone’ boxes, whose tariff was set at Sh12,500. They (PCK) propose that the stand-alone boxes will be rented out under the other categories,” said CA in a statement in the Kenya Gazette yesterday.
"... due to market dynamics and space constraints, renting of these boxes cannot be limited to corporates, necessitating review of the categorisation of this class of rental boxes and its attendant fee.”
Introduction of the stand-alone category was among the moves that the organisation has made in the recent past as it struggles to stay afloat.
PCK has been overrun by growth in mobile telephony and private courier service providers, which has seen a decline in the number of letters and parcels handled by Posta.
PCK has 623 post offices countrywide, according to CA, which is in comparison to 1,599 courier outlets run by different firms.