Courier company registration closes

Move ‘legitimises’ industry Joy orlek All Transport companies that carry express items weighing less than 30kg, had until last Friday to register with the postal regulator. It’s a move that has been welcomed by the executive director of the SA Express Parcel Assocation, Garry Marshall, who describes it as a fairly painless process designed to legitimise the industry and ensure that all operators comply with a minimum set of regulations R500 a year Registration involves the payment of an annual fee of R500 and the submission of documents to the regulator that demonstrate the company’s legitimacy – company registration, tax clearance certificates and the like. While companies that miss the registration deadline are legally liable to penalties, Marshall expects that late registrations will be accepted by the regulator in Pretoria after the closing date. When the process began, the regulator was calling for a R550 000 annual registration fee while a dispute also arose over the perceived exclusivity that the Postal Services Amendment Act granted to the Post Office for the transport of parcels weighing less than 1kg. These issues have now been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.