PETALING JAYA: Pos Malaysia will raise its domestic postal rates for the first time in 18 years.

The price for stamps for standard mail weighing up to 20g will be revised from 30 sen to 60 sen, and for mail weighing up to 50g, from 40 sen to 70 sen.

Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar Datuk Syed Faisal Albar said the continuous decline in public mail volume over the past years prompted Pos Malaysia to take various measures to contain costs while maintaining productivity.

"This has affected our ability to adjust the low salaries of our postmen and counter clerks, which are 19% lower than their government counterparts," Syed Faisal said in a statement Tuesday.

He also assured customers that Pos Malaysia would continue to seek ways to improve its efficiency, standard of service and reliability.

The increase in price will also affect non-standard mail below 100g, periodicals, PosDokumen, registered mail and parcels below 2kg.

POS Malaysia (4634) yesterday said it would be necessary to increase the price of domestic postage stamps in order to cope with current times.

The current challenging economic conditions can decrease our business sustainability and efficiency, said its group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar in a statement in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

If Pos Malaysia does not increase the price, it will continuously incur operational loss of RM20 million annually starting from this year, he said.

"The price for domestic postage stamps is based on the actual cost for processing and delivery of the mail items in line with the current economic condition and international best practices for postal organisations.
"The postage price increase is long overdue not only for our postmen but with the fact that our price is one of the lowest in the world," he added. - Bernama