38 courier firms lose their licences

Communications Authority Chairman Ngene Gituku (right) and Director General Francis Wangusi (left) at the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day event hosted by the body at the Laico Regency hotel on May 17, 2016. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Body cracks the whip on what it calls errant firms after warning them.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has revoked licences of 38 postal and courier firms for failing to adhere to standards rolled out in February.

The operators were alerted in April before revocation of their permits. CA, in an April 22 Gazette notice, said the firms had not paid licence fees arrears and were engaging in other businesses against their permit agreement.

Among the 38 are Ambassador Courier Services, Axa Courier, Transworld Courier Services, Upesi Delivery Services, End to End Logistics, Dakika, Ferdinand Freight and Fowarders, Tomic Express Services, Fast Courier Services and Evafast Courier Services.

“The authority wishes to inform the general public that licences for the postal/courier entities listed here below have been revoked. The entities are, therefore, not authorised to operate any postal and courier business in Kenya,” said a notice in the local dailies yesterday.

CA director-general Francis Wangusi said there were adequate measures to ensure productivity and to put consumer interests first through efficient services aligned to what the licence dictates.

TIGHTENED NOOSE

Regulations placed early this year have tightened the noose on the 200 existing operators, with each required to acquire online or mobile payment platforms that are secure, to enable customers to pay for services with ease.

They must also ensure that their processes conform to set security standards that see to it that items are constantly tracked for safe delivery.

The rules contained in the Kenya Communications and Information Act, state that operators must also indicate “time and location the package was received by the courier, the current estimated location, the expected delivery location and estimated delivery time. They must also set up a call centre and provide a customer care number for tracking of deliveries”.

Due to constant under-performance of the sector, the CA resolved to conduct quarterly surveys that will constantly ensure standards are strictly adhered to.

CA statistics for the period between January to March 2015 show a decline in the sector’s revenue with the number of letters sent locally declining marginally by 0.3 per cent to 16.73 million.

As the surveys are conducted, operators will be rated on a scale of up to 100 per cent. Those rated on a scale that is below 80 per cent will be declared non-compliant although they will be given time to improve their processes.

Those with up to 30 per cent score will have their licences revoked without further consideration.