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Peter Michael

Passenger survey indicates a raid on the $30 million-a-year earner is being planned

The stranglehold of Hongkong Post on the 'one-stop shop' bill-payment service - and an estimated $30 million in revenue - is under siege, with several organisations including the MTR Corporation openly eyeing the lucrative market.

Under a wide-ranging survey finalised yesterday, the MTR Corp  has been asking the public if they would like the convenience of being able to pay bills in train stations.

Officials yesterday refused to detail the purpose of the survey on bill-payment services, except to say it was about 'understanding customer needs'.

However, it is understood the MTR Corp  is only one of a number of government and partly privatised organisations taking aim at the multi-million-dollar money-spinner.

Hongkong Post spokesman Roy Siu Kwong-fai  yesterday confirmed the PayThruPost service for payment of government bills such as electricity, gas and fines was under siege from outside competitors.

'We obviously have market intelligence and are very concerned about [the threat of] competitors,' Mr Siu said.

'We know they want to enter this area.'

Mr Siu declined to reveal the total revenue generated by the bill-payment service.

But, according to figures provided to the government after the service was launched three years ago, it is estimated to be worth more than $30 million a year.

'We did not expect a total monopoly. We will always face competition from other organisations and we welcome open and fair competition,' Mr Siu said.

'What we have been doing is to excel in our services to give a high-quality and professional service to our customers. What we have in our favour is reputation, reliability, and our strength is at the post office counters.

'The reason we launched the service is because we wanted to maximise the profitability of the post office and offer a one-stop convenience to our customers.'

He said the income was generated through a service charge negotiated with the partners whose bills were being paid at post offices.

'I do not want to disclose the figure, it is commercial-in-confidence, but we will charge our client and not the customer,' he said.

Hongkong Post celebrates 163 years of operation in the city tomorrow.

An MTR Corp  spokeswoman yesterday did not wish to elaborate on the purpose of the recent survey.

'It is a general kind of survey that we regularly do. And this is to find out what our customer needs are with the aim of continuously improving the service for our customers.

'We don't have any plans yet. We have just been asking our customers about the habit of paying those bills and all the different types of services that the public needs to pay for.'

UP FOR GRABS

The MTR has its eyes on PayThruPost's clients, which include:

Inland Revenue Department: tax bills, business registration fees, tax reserve certificates

Water Supplies Department: water and sewage charges, water deposits, other WSD demand notes

Rating and Valuation Department: rates and / government rent

Police force: fixed penalty tickets

Treasury: government rent, land premium

Food and Environment Hygiene Department: market stall rents, licences, permits

Environmental Protection Department: demand notes

Student Financial Assistance Agency: student loan repayment demand notes, including government non-means-tested loan repayments; teachers-in-training loan repayments

Education Department: fees for adult education

Drainage Services Department: trade effluent surcharges

And bills from: CLP Power, Hongkong Electric Company, PCCW, Hong kong CSL and the Hong Kong and China Gas Company



MTR Corp eyes post office's lucrative one-stop bill service