The way the U.S. Postal Service administers and enforces its Revenue Assurance Program (RAP) is under review by its Inspector General, Carla Corcoran, DIRECT Newsline has learned.
The program is designed to verify that a mailer has paid the correct postage on a mailing and to collect any payment shortages.
Corcoran’s office would not comment on the review, which was requested by Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), chairman of the House postal subcommittee.
McHugh, in a letter to Corcoran asking for the review, said that “a wide range of postal customers, nonprofit[s organizations], community newspapers, government agencies, and commercial mailers have expressed grave concerns about the program.”
According to those mailers, he wrote, RAP “is not designed to solve regulatory compliance issues in advance of sanctions” and mailers note that the USPS “increasingly demands payment of back postage for unclear, ambiguous, or inconsequential violations [of postal regulations] particularly in instances where the mailer received pre-approval from a local postal official” and the alleged offense did not add to the postal service’s processing costs.
There were indications that McHugh’s subcommittee may soon hold hearings on the problem, which has been simmering for months.
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