Police arrest 50 illegal courier, postal services operators in Accra

More than 50 illegal operators in the postal and courier services industry were yesterday arrested by a joint taskforce team in an exercise to sanitise the sector.

The exercise, embarked on by officials of the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission (PCSC) and the Greater Accra Regional Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) was in line with enforcing Article 649, section 10 of the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Act 2003.

In a swoop, the team impounded motorcycles delivering such services illegally in areas including the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Ministries area and Osu all in the Greater Accra Region.

The Ghanaian Times observed that most operators who fell foul of the law were either oblivious of their obligations under the Act or had taken the Commission for a ride in registering and securing licenses for their businesses.

The Public Relations and Consumer Affairs Manager for the PCSC, Nii Yeboah Edwin Burgesson in a media interview expressed worry over the proliferation of courier services without due licence from the Commission, a situation he said amounted to crime.

“We are seeing proliferation of one-man operators using motorcycle to transport goods which raises suspicions of tampering, fake items among other criminal acts but this is a regulated sector and all start-up businesses and entrepreneurs keen on courier service delivery must engage the Commission.”

It takes a minimum of 10 days to be issued with a licence once you have all your documents intact after which businesses are obliged to renew their subscriptions annually. Failure to do so may attract a fine of up to 250 penalty units (GH¢3,000), a prison term or both,” he cautioned.

Mr Burgesson dismissed claims by some operators that they were unaware of the law saying, “there have been lots of engagement and sensitisation on the need to register with the Commission if you operate a courier service but most businesses come to us to register and never return to complete the processes though they conduct their trade.”

He pointed out repercussions to the state and businesses in good standing with the Commission should the scourge be allowed to continue without recourse, entreating industry players to cooperate with the PCSC to build a resilient sector.

Meanwhile, some operators whose motor cycles were seized called for more engagement and sensitisation in the future by the Commission to promote best practices.

“I have been operating a year now. I have all my documents but I am not aware of the existence of the Commission so the seizure of my motorcycle is something surprising to me,” a courier rider with Speed Bok delivery services stated.

Another, Gariba Sheibu, from Kidi Trace courier delivery services, who was en route to Ashiaman to deliver cosmetics though furious over the seizure expressed willingness to cooperate with the Commission to keep his business running.