CA revokes courier licenses of 34 transport firms
The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has revoked the licenses of 34 postal and courier companies operating in the country.
The move follows a push by the government to weed out rogue operators that have proliferated in the sector that has registered robust growth in the past two years buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week CA gazetted the names of 19 service providers majority of them transport companies providing inter-county services whose licenses are set to be revoked.
“Once revoked, the licenses listed above shall not be authorized to provide the services applicable to the relevant licenses,” stated Matano Ndaro, CA director for competition, tariffs, and market analysis in the Kenya Gazette.
The affected courier operators include long-distance transport companies Classic Express Shuttle Limited, Moyale Star Bus Services and Chania Executive Cool Limited among others.
“The revocation of these licenses may affect the public and local authorities, companies, persons or bodies of persons within the country” stated Mr Matano adding that “Any resources held under any of these licenses also shall revert back to the authority upon revocation.”
This comes a week after CA Director-General Ezra Chiloba published another list of 15 service providers that are no longer allowed to provide courier services.
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The affected companies included Samper Tours and Travels, Destiny Parcel Services and Spanish Courier Limited. Others are Apollo Express Limited, Grafa International Limited, Joham Moving Enterprises, Rising Freight Limited and Exodus Parcels Limited.
“Subject to the postal/courier license conditions, the Authority wishes to notify the public that it has revoked the postal/courier licenses held by the underlisted firms,” said Mr Chiloba in a notice to the public.
Last year Mr Chiloba said the country’s Postal and Courier sector has recorded significant growth, particularly during the pandemic but this has also come with an influx of rogue players preying on unwitting users.
“The Authority is currently carrying out a market study in the Postal courier subsector in order to establish the service access gaps to inform remedies and initiatives towards boosting services access for consumers,” Mr Chiloba said during the World Post Day.
“The findings will enable the Authority to take some interventions and address some of the noted challenges experienced by players and consumers of postal courier services,” he explained.
Data from the latest annual report from the CA indicates that the number of postal and courier operators in the country stood at 289 last year a 26 percent increase from 2019.
In April 2021, the CA revoked the postal and courier licenses of 21 service providers including several bus and matatu SACCOs plying services across the country.
These included the Modern Coast Courier Limited, Ballore Transport and Logistics, Skynet World Express, Global Freight Logistics, Randa Coach and Tahmeed Courier Limited.
