The Knesset’s Economics Committee, headed by MK Michael Bitton, continued yesterday to prepare for a second and third reading the proposal to amend the Postal Law. The amendment is mainly intended to implement the recommendations of the Rosen Committee, which recommended, among other things, to open the postal sector to competition, reform the package industry from abroad and expand the supervisory and enforcement powers of the Ministry of Communications and the Minister.
During the discussion, representatives of private companies criticized the bill, and in response, the director general of the Ministry of Communications promised that in the next two weeks the government is expected to make courageous decisions regarding the mail. Chairman Bitton said he would not allow service to the citizen to be harmed and would not allow harm to the periphery. He also demanded that the Ministry of Communications present data on the improvement in service to citizens as a result of the reform.
The chairman of Messer, Avshalom Haran, said that in accordance with the recommendations of two public committees, the distribution centers for all companies should be opened, and price controls should be gradually removed. He warned of damage to the service and raising tariffs in the periphery at the expense of the center, and asked if the commission would be prepared for that. Chairman Bitton said in response that he did not intend to allow a situation of harm to the periphery in favor of the center.
Harn added that the postal company still has a monopoly and blocks competition for the parallel distribution of mailboxes, and the intention is to turn it into a private monopoly. “If the offer is accepted as the Ministry of Communications proposes, there will be no competition in the market and we will not be able to compete with the postal company’s monopoly,” he said.
Barry Printing CEO Ben Sukman, who called the proposal a “postal company bill,” said it would eliminate future competition. He said, “Instead of worrying about the development of the postal market, the Ministries of Communications and Finance maintain the monopoly and try to maximize the value of the postal company in preparation for an IPO. “Protecting the monopoly will lead to harm to the citizen, the service will be harmed and the price will go up,” said Sukman.
Representatives of the other printing companies said similar things. Ania’s CEO, Natan Shapira, said that the entry of the printing company for printing would eliminate the printing houses. Because, according to him, these are a few large individual customers, and it is enough for the post office to take two or three customers to bring about the closure of the company.
The director of the printing and paper industries at the Manufacturers’ Association, Efrat Haim, said that the entry of the postal company into the printing field would not only not increase competition, but would be a targeted elimination of quantitative printing.
The CEO of the Israel Postal Company, Danny Goldstein, responded to the allegations and said that Messer makes a distribution in all economic areas, and where it is not economic, it transfers it to Israel Post. As for the ability of the post office to perform pricing, Goldstein said that the company has an orderly pricing and it has also done an orderly job with the company. KPMG.
The director general of the Ministry of Communications, Liran Avishar Ben Horin, also responded, saying that the printing section is unsupervised and is fading regardless of the reform. She explained that this is not about the mail becoming a player in the printing market, but as a buyer of printing services and their marketer as one package like the other players. According to her, the intention is to allow him to hold up to 5 percent in a printing company.
Regarding the claim of harming the periphery and raising the price, CEO Avishar Ben Horin said that it was the price of quantitative mail, paid by large business owners, and not the price to the private consumer. to court.
The director general of the Ministry of Communications, Avishar Ben Horin, asked to comment and said that the mail is a basic product and is still a market, like the Internet, and it is better for it to be run as a market than for the government to try to run it. However, she added: “In the next two weeks, the government will make difficult and painful decisions regarding the mail that you will hear about, the government must make courageous decisions.”
Chairman Bitton summed up the discussion and said that the committee expects the Ministry of Communications to bridge the gaps between the various bodies, and to bring in legislation that benefits the consumer first and foremost. He sought written information on improving measurable service to the public as a result of the legislation, adding: “Is it a premise that the post office can only sustain itself from self-revenue in a world where the use of letters is less valid? We did not get a good answer. “If the government wants to privatize, it will have to put its hand in its pocket and invest hundreds of millions because these are workers, the question is whether instead the government can invest several tens of millions and maintain the financial stability of the post office.”