The government has increased vigil on the activities of illegal courier services operating across the country.
According to the Post Office Act, 1898, each mailing operator and courier service organisation must be a member of an authorised mailing operator, and a Courier Service Association.
But, a large number of unauthorised courier service organisations, which are running business in violation of the law, do not have any licences or any affiliation with the courier service association.
Bangladesh Post recently carried a report on the mushrooming of illegal couriers operating across the country without licences.
Following the report on the illegal courier service organisations, the intelligence sources said that they have increased vigil on the activities of the courier services.
Dr M Mahiuddin, Chairman of the Mailing Operator and Courier Service Licensing Authority, says that they are collecting pieces of information over the unlicensed courier services.
“A draft law has already been formulated to monitor the activities of the courier services,” he told Bangladesh Post.
The website of the Courier Services Association of Bangladesh shows that some 174 organisations are operating across the country.
Of the organisations, the number of licenced organisations stands at 88 and the number of unlicenced organisations, 86.
It also shows that 62 organisations renewed licenses while many of them have not renewed their licences since long.
Against the listed numbers, insiders say that over 500 organisations, which do not have any affiliation with any authorised body, are operating their business without licences.
Sources say that the government brought an amendment to the Post Office Act in 2010 so that the courier services run business following the rules and regulations.
Sources in the Courier Services Association of Bangladesh say that there are several criteria for taking the membership for domestic, joint venture, franchise and fully foreign companies. A local operator needs to pay Tk 50,000 as membership
fee, Tk 10,000 as certificate fee and 12,000 as annual fee for running business while a joint venture company needs to pay Tk 2,50,000 as membership fee, Tk 10,000 as certificate fee and Tk 24,000 as annual fee.
For a joint franchise company, it needs Tk 5 lakh as membership fee, Tk 10,000 as certificate fee and Tk 36,000 as annual fee while a fully foreign company needs to pay Tk 10 lakh as membership fee, Tk 10,000 as certificate fee and Tk 60,000 as annual subscription fee.
According to the website of International Air Express Association of Bangladesh, if any local organisation wants to take the membership of IAEAB, it needs to pay Tk 20,000 as application fee, which is non-refundable.
The owner needs to pay Tk 2.5 lakh as membership fee, Tk, 20,000 as annual subscription fee and Tk 5 lakh as association development fee.
The Mailing Operator and Courier Service Licencing Authority issues licenses in three categories —-international, domestic and onboard Portland.
It fixes Tk 50,000 to Tk 1 crore as licencing fee for running businesses by the domestic companies under seven categories.
Under the category (a), a company has to deposit Tk 3 (Three) lakh as bank guarantee along with Tk 50,000 as licensing fee for running operations in the capital and other city corporations a fully foreign company listed with Bangladesh Investment Board and approved by authorities concerned will be included under the (g) category.
The companies under (g) category must deposit Tk 5 crore as bank guarantee and Tk 1 crore as licensing fee and Tk 60 lakh as renewal fee.