MoChou Lee
The State Postal Bureau of the PRC has responded to the Chinese State Council’s soliciting of public opinion to strengthen its new Express Delivery Regulations Act. The Bureau has taken things a step further by announcing it will establish a credibility system among parcel delivery companies.
According to the bureau, it intends to erect a system that will blacklist illegal and poorly performing parcel delivery companies by imposing heavy fines and establishing a joint penalty system. The system will be completed by 2020.
The State Post authorities said that they have received 68,715 complaints from customers as of October. Authorities claim that as many as 96.2% are about parcel delivery services, concerning 43 parcel delivery companies. Quality of delivery service, delay of deliveries and loss of packages are among the most frequent complaints.
Last Monday the State Council started drafting the new Express Delivery Regulations Act. According to the draft, if staff at a delivery company throw, toss, step on or jeopardize the integrity of a package, they will be fined up to RMB 50,000 (USD 8000).
After introducing real-name verification for deliveries in the beginning of November, this is a further step in China’s effort to regulate its courier services industry. China’s courier services market is the largest in the world, with 14 billion packages delivered in 2014, according to People’s Daily.