An Post will today challenge in the High Court a £2.35 million (€2.98 million) levy charged by the telecoms regulator, Ms Etain Doyle. It is thought the State company will challenge Ms Doyle's legal right to impose the fee for regulating the quality of postal services this year and in 2002.
Directors at An Post believe the charge is excessive and are understood to have sanctioned court action at their monthly meeting in October.
In addition, the senior figures in the company are understood to believe that the Statutory Instrument which transferred postal regulation to Ms Doyle's office does not empower the regulator to make the charge.
That Statutory Instrument - number 310 of 2000 - was signed by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke.
An Post has stated publicly that the charge is inappropriate, given its dire financial position. It has also signalled that the legal option would be considered by its board.
Ms Doyle proposed a £250,000 regulatory charge for the January-June period this year, and £350,000 for July-December. The proposed fee for next year is £1.75 million.
In her most recent annual report, the regulator reported a £23.99 million profit in the year to June 30th, 2000.
The proposed levy is required to pay for Ms Doyle's regulation of the services An Post is required to provide throughout the State. These comprise the postal business for letters and parcels up to a certain weight.
The stance of Ms Doyle's office is that the levy is required to pay for the quality of the postal service to be monitored.
Similar work carried out for An Post will no longer be necessary. In addition, the regulator has also argued that such fees are smaller than those already paid by An Post for its existing delivery monitoring service.
The levy is just one point of conflict between the company and its regulator, and the relationship between the two appears increasingly strained.
Tension has already emerged over demands made by Ms Doyle's office for improved next-day postal delivery rates. The company argues that these are unnecessary and unattainable.
The two are also at loggerheads over An Post's application for a 30 per cent increase in international postal tariffs.
An Post argues it is losing large amounts of money to provide the service because it must pay "high" tariffs to its international counterparts to deliver Irish mail abroad.
Loss-making Irish rates in place since 1991 mean it can charge only "low" fees to deliver foreign mail in the Republic.
An Post wants domestic rates increased also, but has said an application for an increase will be made only after the international fees are determined.
Ms Doyle is believed to have sought information on domestic rates from the company to aid her decision on international fees.
