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DPE sets off price war in express courier market

Nina Varghese

CHENNAI, Aug. 28

A PRICE war is in the offing among international courier companies in the document market with one, DPE International, slashing its rates and introducing a new weight-break slab of 100 gm.

According to Mr. Farhat Omar Rabbani, Director, DPE International, the new rates would be in place by September 1. The company, one of the five international time critical express companies, is launching a ``Document month'' campaign and will target ban ks, shipping companies and business houses with international transactions.

The 100-gm level was the new weight-break, which DPE International had introduced, the nearest competitive weight-break being 500 gm, Mr. Rabbani said.

The company will be pushing what it calls ``rock-bottom rates'' for documents up to 100 gm to various destinations especially to the Far East and Sri Lanka. The rates offered are Rs. 150 to Singapore, Sri Lanka and Nepal; Rs. 200 to Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Dubai; Rs. 275 to Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea, China, London, South Africa. An additional Rs. 50 will be charged for documents above 100 gm and below 500 gm.

Elbee Express, the network partner in India of UPS, offers Rs. 350 for a document up to 500 gm from Chennai to Singapore.

FedEx and DHL charge over Rs. 1,000 for documents up to 500 gm to Singapore. The lowest weight-break is 500 gm.

DPE International is a relatively new entrant in the express courier market.

DPE International's network member in India is Expo Express Service Pvt Ltd with offices in Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Tirupur. The company has also appointed associates and franchisees in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Coimbatore and Calcutta.

DPE International is the business name for the Australian company, Mayne Nickless Ltd, and is operating in three service industries-health care, time critical express and contract logistics.