PRC’s New Rate-Setting Proposal Could End Up In Court

By Kurt Ruppel, Director Postal Policy, IWCO Direct

As you may have heard, changes are coming to the process for setting postage rates. Media headlines suggest the changes are already a done deal, but that is far from accurate. Here’s what’s really going on in the world of postage rates.

The PRC has established a 90-day comment period during which postal stakeholders can offer feedback, constructive criticism, and alternatives to the PRC’s proposal. Comments must be received by the PRC no later than March 1, 2018. There will then be a 30-day period for reply comments (to the initial set of comments) that closes on March 30, 2018. At that point, the PRC will review all comments, perhaps modify their proposal, and issue a Notice of Final Rulemaking (NFR) that will be posted in the Federal Register.

Given the strong opinions already in place on this (PRC) proposal, once the final ruling has been issued, it is highly likely that it will be challenged in the Court of Appeals by members of the mailing industry, the Postal Service, or both (depending on the details of the final ruling). This could extend this process even further into the future … (click to read more)