POSTMASTER General Michael Gentles says private courier companies which deliver letters and small packages locally are doing so illegally, according to the Postal Services Act.

Gentles said that "courier services are exploding in Jamaica" although the law gives the postmaster general the exclusive right, through the post offices, to operate in the letters and small packages category.

"That is strictly the purview of the post office. You can deliver, but not if you are going to use a third party and not if that person is going to have to be paid to do it," Gentles told the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Parliament on Tuesday.

Opposition committee member Ronald Thwaites said, however, that Jamaica's situation was not unique.

"All over the world this is dealt with by a system of licencing, franchising and proper fees. This is not a new event," Thwaites said.

Gentles, however, lamented that there was "no legislation in place to address international courier services who do business in Jamaica".

He said while the department was strengthening its operations to enable it to compete with private courier companies, it was not doing so on a level playing field.

The department, he added, was waiting on the completion of draft legislation to "address all the issues in terms of what takes place in the post office and the entire postal sector in Jamaica".

According to the Postal Services Act, the post office is the statutory body with full powers under the law, capable of regulating the courier sector and setting market rates for products and services.

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