Under the new rates, which take effect on May 24, the cost of renting a post office box has risen by between 38 per cent and 64 per cent.
Kenyans sending mail internationally will have to part with as much as 50 per cent more.
Visually impaired persons will have to pay Sh30 to send braille materials to Europe and the United States, a 50 per cent increment.
Kenyans will pay more to send mail and to rent letter boxes after the Communications Authority of Kenya approved increases in postal rates.
The Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) had in January applied to the regulator to have charges increased in a bid to boost flagging revenues.
Under the new rates, which take effect on May 24, the cost of renting a post office box has risen by between 38 per cent and 64 per cent. Kenyans sending mail internationally will have to part with as much as 50 per cent more.
“The cost of doing business is not the way it was 10 years ago, when we last reviewed these rates. I think it’s just fair for us to cover our costs,” said Postmaster-General Dan Kagwe yesterday.
Mr Kagwe said the corporation currently spends Sh600 million per year on maintenance of some of its post office infrastructure, costs that are not met by the PCK’s revenues. While the cost of renting an individual letter box remains unchanged at Sh2,320 every year.
PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC
Corporate bodies will, however, pay Sh10,960 up from Sh6,960. Philanthropic organisations will part with Sh7,220 for special corporate boxes up from Sh5,220. Posta has also created new product classes. Standalone letter boxes, which will now be in their own price category, charged at Sh12,500. These boxes are usually targeted at high-income earners and are installed in areas without a post-office, such as shopping malls and “upmarket gated communities and petrol stations”.
Schools and churches that previously paid either corporate or special corporate rates will be in a category of their own, charged Sh8,960 for their letter boxes. The cost of sending airmail to Europe and America has gone up from Sh105 to Sh130 and Sh130 to Sh150 respectively.
Visually impaired persons will have to pay Sh30 to send braille materials to Europe and the United States, a 50 per cent increment.
Tourists will also have to dig for extra coins as the cost of sending post cards has risen across the board with the most affected destinations being Europe, the Middle and the Near East. It will now cost Sh90 to send a post card to these regions up from Sh70.
The PCK has been facing stiff competition from a thriving private courier industry and the State agency it has been trying to diversify its services and cut costs to survive.
