PRG Denies Postal Service Exigent Rate Request in Unanimous Decision

The Postal Regulatory Commission, Washington, today issued Order No. 547 in Docket R2010-4 denying a Postal Service request for an average 5.6 percent rate increase. The Commission found that the Postal Service failed to justify rate increases in excess of its statutory CPI price cap.

"The Commission finds that the Postal Service has shown the recent recession to be an exigent circumstance but it has failed both to quantify the impact of the recession on its finances and to show how its rate request relates to the resulting loss of mail volume; therefore, we unanimously deny its exigent rate request," said chairman Ruth Y. Goldway.