With less than two weeks before the Postal Regulatory Commission decides on the U.S. Postal Service’s exigent rate hike proposal, both sides are clearly on edge. The money-losing USPS says it needs the exigent rate hike desperately, while already-stretched catalogers say a postage increase will force them to cut back on mailings.
Plus, the legality of the exigent rate hike proposal filed on July 6 is still in question.The Affordable Mail Alliance (AMA) on July 26 asked the PRC to dismiss the USPS’s proposal, arguing that the rate hike violates the cost controls Congress put in place to protect consumers.
Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), postal rate hike are capped at inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). So the estimated price cap is 0.6%, yet the average exigent price increase is 5.6%. (Standard Mail flats or catalog rates would go up 5.1% if the rate case is passed and increases are implemented Jan. 2.)
Continues at: Which Way will PRC Rule in Exigent Postal Rate Case?.
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