Postal, courier operators feel the pinch

CLOUDINE MATOLA

The informal service providers also known as ‘runners’ or ‘Omalayitsha’ could play the undertaker to postal and courier services operators who have taken over their business, Business Times can report.

It was revealed during a Postal and Courier Services sector meeting on Tuesday this week at POTRAZ headquarters in the capital Harare.

Operators alerted the minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services Tatenda Mavetera that the unregistered operators impact the sector’s ease of doing business.

“(It would be good) if we can get support in enabling a level playing field where those informal players can be invited and formalized so that they can have a level playing field. They also pay the taxes, which is supporting the government and industry. And then we compete on a level playing field,” the United Parcel Services managing director, Patrick Tairodza, said.

He added: “We as a formal company, we pay overheads. We have got taxes to pay, we have got license fees to pay obviously to our regulators so that they are able to operate.

“And because of that, we have got certain rates that we say are benchmark, rates that we need to charge to our clients. We can have the resources to be able to support that, But unfortunately, we have got over the players that are coming in who do not have any overheads.

“Some of them are one-man band. So they don’t have any overheads whatsoever then they distort rates and cut them by probably a quarter or so.

“And then that is also making us lose business. And our turnovers are coming down. And obviously, that is also affecting the license fees that we pay to the regulator for them to be able to support us properly.”

FedEx Express representative Godfrey Chigunduru concurred with Tairodza.

He also expressed concern over ZIMRA’s delays in processing cargo at border posts.

“Most of the issues have been touched on the unregistered courier services being supplied by people who are not registered so I will touch on a few which is the turnaround time accustomed to now.

“What we need is when a parcel comes into the country, it must be cleared in the shortest possible time so that we can deliver on time.

“The moment we don’t deliver on time, our gap and our solid charges, also accrue,” he said.

Maxwell Chitendeni, postmaster general of  State-run postal services firm,  ZimPost, weighed in  saying  it was crucial  to stop unregistered runners in the sector from operating.

Gift Machengete, director general of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, advised postal and courier service providers to clarify and reevaluate their operations in order to enhance their companies.

“I can also take this opportunity to challenge the operators here present to say that there is something that is known as business myopia, whereby you fail to define your business or the business that you are in.

“ And because of that failure to define your business, then you find competition very tough.

“I’m saying this because of the competition that you are facing with the ‘runners’ .At times it’s because you have failed to define your business. If you believe, if you are ZimPost and you believe that you are just in the business of parcels, carrying parcels, you are missing the point because you have to define your business wider. You are in the logistics business,

“So apart from crying about the ‘Omalayitsha’ whom we are dealing with anyway, I think we should also relook at our business models and see how we can improve,” said Machengete.

Minister Mavetera stated that the ministry will interact with operators in the postal and courier services industry in response to their concerns.