The express delivery industry is an industry closely related to our lives, and hundreds of millions of express mail circulate throughout the country every day, providing us with convenient logistics services. However, with the development of the express delivery industry, some problems have also emerged, such as the work pressure of couriers, the service experience of users, and the environmental protection of express packaging. In order to regulate the express delivery market, the Ministry of Transport adopted the newly revised Measures for the Administration of the Express Market (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") on December 8, 2023, which will be officially implemented on March 1, 2024.
The Measures have a total of 9 chapters and 57 articles, involving the development of the express delivery industry, green and low-carbon development, market order, express services, supervision and management, etc., aiming to strengthen the supervision and management of the express delivery market, ensure the quality and safety of express delivery services, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of users, express delivery practitioners and enterprises operating express business, and promote the healthy development of the express delivery industry. Among them, the most eye-catching is the provision of Article 25, that is, enterprises engaged in express delivery business shall not confirm the receipt of express mail on behalf of the user without the consent of the user, and shall not deliver the express mail to the express terminal service facilities such as smart express boxes and express service stations without authorization.
This provision means that the courier must get in touch with the user at the time of delivery and obtain the user's consent before the shipment can be delivered to the location specified by the user, otherwise they will face the penalty of circulating criticism or fines. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty and cost of the work for the courier, and also affects the efficiency of delivery. In order to make up for this loss, some express companies began to adopt a new charging method, that is, for the service of door-to-door collection and delivery, an additional fee of 5 yuan is charged separately, and for the service of placing the express mail in a place such as a post station, no additional fee is charged.
This approach has sparked heated discussions among netizens, with some supporting, some opposing, and some neutral. Supportive netizens believe that this is a reasonable market regulation, which can encourage users to pick up their own parcels, reduce the workload of couriers, and also help save resources and protect the environment. Opposing netizens believe that this is a disguised price increase, which increases the burden on users and damages the rights and interests of users, and the post stations in some places are far away from users and are inconvenient to pick up. Neutral netizens believe that this is a two-way choice, and users can choose whether they are willing to pay additional fees according to their needs and circumstances, or they can choose other courier companies or delivery methods.
As an ordinary bystander, I don't have a clear position on this issue, but I think that this is a complex issue involving the development of the express delivery industry, the rights and interests of couriers, user needs and other aspects, which needs to be analyzed and considered from multiple angles, and cannot be generalized. I hope that the relevant departments and platforms can strengthen the supervision and evaluation of the express delivery market, maintain fair competition and good order in the express delivery market, protect the reasonable income and labor conditions of couriers, protect the legitimate rights and interests of users and service experience, and promote the sustainable development of the express delivery industry. I also call on express companies and couriers to operate in good faith, improve service quality and efficiency, respect the choices and wishes of users, establish good communication and trust with users, and achieve a win-win situation. I believe that only in this way can we enjoy the convenience and well-being brought by the express delivery industry together.