Regulator sanctions illegal courier service operators

The Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) has warned that courier service companies who have not yet registered their operations with the Commission, risk prosecution by the end of February 2018 if they fail to do so.

The caution follows what the Commission describes as the flooding of the industry by non-conforming operators.

A development, some have also cited as accounting for instances of fraud in the service delivery space.

The Executive Secretary of the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission, Isaac Annan Riverson who has been speaking to Citi Business News believes the action will sanitise the courier services industry.

“If after about two to three weeks we realize that the status quo remains, then we will move into the next step. So I can assure the general public that by the end of January and into middle of February, they would begin to see the measures we’re putting into place to ensure that operators become compliant with the laws of the land,” he stated.

According to Mr. Riverson, the decision to prosecute has also become apparent following the ineffectiveness of several approaches to get defaulting organizations to register their operations.

He admitted to using this as a last resort but maintains that his outfit has been lenient for quite a while without any indication of getting more operators to get the required license.

Operators to be faced with the prosecution will also follow the expiration of a grace period after the publication of all defaulting businesses to trigger their registration to avert the punitive measure.

“What we are telling all such courier service companies is to take the appropriate steps and come to our offices and ensure that we register them to do lawful business…After publishing the names of the unregistered businesses, we will give them a certain grace period for them to complete their registration with the Commission,” Mr. Riverson concluded.

The Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSRC) is the regulator for the postal and courier sector in Ghana.

The Commission was established under the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act, 2003 (Act 649).

The Commission is responsible for implementation of national policies under the control of the Minister for Communications and in line with the National Postal Policy through its board – the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Board of Commissioners.

By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana