If you can't stand junk mail any more, you will soon be able to tell Hongkong Post where to stick it.
Starting from September 1, residents will be able to exclude certain unaddressed circulars, by putting a sticker on their letter box.
The scheme, introduced by Hongkong Post yesterday, applies to the mounting piles of Hongkong Post Circular Service mail, which has a specific Hongkong Post mark printed on its top-right corner instead of the name and address of a recipient.
The circular service, which according to the postmaster general sent out more than 119 million circulars in 2009, offers discounts to companies that send more than 2,000 promotional messages to potential customer segments, without the need for address labelling. The service can save up to 36 per cent on standard postage rates and eliminate the cost of packaging and labelling, according to Hongkong Post.
But Hongkong Post carried out research and consultations from last October to May this year, in response to an investigation report by the Ombudsman on a complaint case that an option not to receive the unsolicited mail was not effective.
The Ombudsman concluded that the circular service was 'an abuse of the postal service', which created unwanted nuisance and annoyance.
The Ombudsman's report says that the Mandatory Opt-out Scheme introduced by Hongkong Post in 2007 is unrealistic, as it requires recipients to instruct each and every sender to stop sending circular mail to them. There is no sanction against non-compliance.
