Mail services firm raises charges 33pc

General Post Office (GPO) building located along Kenyatta Avenue. FILE PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG

MPost —a service that turns mobile phones into formal postal addresses— has increased annual subscription charges by 33 percent effective immediately in response to high operating costs.

The new charges for the service that was launched in Kenya in partnership with the Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) in 2016 take effect immediately and will see subscribers pay an annual fee of Sh400 from Sh300.

Taz Technologies, the company that owns the MPost innovation said an increase in annual subscription charges is mainly attributed to the high cost of doing business in Kenya.

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“The annual subscription fee for MPost customers has increased from Sh300 to Sh400 and it takes effect immediately,” said Taz Technologies founder and CEO Twahir Mohamed.

“We are adjusting our annual subscription fee up because the cost of doing business in Kenya has gone up in the last few years.”

MPost enables mobile phone users to receive alerts of mail or packages and choose how the parcel is delivered.

For the package to be delivered to one’s doorstep, a separate fee applies.

The price increase indicates that the firm together with its partner PCK could raise its revenue to Sh26 million per year based on the 65,000 active subscriber base.

MPost was designed to expand users of formal mail services by lowering costs. Ordinary post office boxes cost thousands of shillings per annum, with customers able to pay for one or several years.

MPost has been seeking to expand its services across East Africa apart from Kenya and Rwanda.

The service is targeting the younger generation who may not be interested in owning a physical post office box.

The main reason PCK went into a partnership with Taz Technologies was to help rev up revenues for the State agency that has taken a hit from the effects of Internet-based mailing and the entry of private couriers.

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Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the postman has identified the logistics sector as a key focus area for revenue growth, informed by changes in consumer behaviour and new shopping trends.

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