Rogue courier firms’ licences cancelled out

The Communications Authority (CA) has revoked the licences of 12 courier firms.

The regulator said the companies had been operating outside the laid down rules, with others said to have been operating without valid licences altogether.

“CA intends to revoke the licences granted to the licensees… due to the non-compliance with the applicable licence conditions,” said CA, in a public statement on Friday.

One of the firms whose licences have been revoked is Kampala Coach – the popular public service vehicle operator – which held an international courier operator licence.

Others whose licences have been revoked are Ainushamsi Multiple Agencies, Chania Cool Limited, Charlie Agencies, Freeways Logistics, Ganatra Parcel Services and Hatari Security Guards.

Others are Intel Business Systems, Timely Response Logistics, Tawakal Parcel Services, Tahir Sheikh Said Transporters and Power Speed.

First time

It is not the first time that CA has revoked licences of courier firms.

Last year, it raided premises of a number of courier firms operated by matatu co-operatives and arraigned some of the officials for failure to meet certain requirements, including that of setting up shop without licences.

Other than crackdowns, the authority said it also planned to increase controls on the industry and was in the process of starting to gauge the quality of service among operators.

This is expected to rein in rogue players and also give consumers value for money.

Courier operators who perform below the threshold, the regulator said, will be penalised.

Among the parameters to be used to gauge quality are measures put in place to ensure there is no delay in delivery, damage, loss or theft of parcels.

Since the semi-liberalisation of the postal and courier sub-sector, the industry has grown in terms of private sector participation, but also attracted players without the capacity to deliver.

Such players include public service vehicle operators, some who have failed their customers.

“The primary objective of quality of service standards is to provide a basis on which the Authority can assess the performance of operators,” said the authority on the quality of service.

“The standards ensure that users get value for money in the process of seeking services from operators.”

CA has implemented a similar quality of service among mobile phone operators, which jointly paid a fine of Sh311 million in 2016, according to the regulator’s latest report, for failure to meet the set parameters such as dropped calls.