Increase ‘amazes’

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34127, 13 April 1976, Page 20

Increase ‘amazes’

Post Office private box holders have expressed amazement at the 150 per cent increase in the cost of renting the boxes/ ;• One box-holder has complained to “The Press” about finding that the new rate for a small private box had jumped from $6 a year to $l5. The complainant, L. Thomas, in a letter .to the editor said that other boxholders had been amazed,

and wondered if the increase was justified. “Even the increased price of stamps didn’t hurt as much as this,” said the complainant. The Deputy Chief Postmaster (Mr E. A G. Grandi) said the increases were the first in six years, and reflected the higher cost of providing the service. The new rentals had been set to reduce the demand for boxes from people and groups who received low volumes of mail and Whose postal needs could be met by postal deliveries. Mr Grandi said there was

no intention of penalising those who did not have an alternative. The rental charged for a small standard private box for a householder living outside the area of a postman’s delivery had been reduced to $4 a year. The new charges for postal boxes are $2O for a small box and $4O for a large box at the Chief Post Office. The previous charges were $7 and At suburban offices the rentals are $l5 small, $3O large, whereas they used to be $6 and $l2. For areas not served by postmen the rates are $4 and $8 as against $2 and $4 previously.