PETALING JAYA (Feb 3): Malaysian courier operators have largely ignored a RM5 floor price for parcel deliveries because it is not legally binding, GDEX Bhd (KL:GDEX) managing director and group chief executive officer Teong Teck Lean said on Tuesday.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) introduced reference price guidelines for courier services in December 2024, but the proposal, including a RM5 minimum price for parcels weighing 2kg and below, has yet to be gazetted, leaving compliance voluntary.
“The RM5 reference price was announced, but it has not been gazetted,” Teong told reporters after the opening of GDEX’s GD XCHANGE Experience Centre by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani here on Tuesday.
“I believe not many companies are actually following it.”
Teong said the lack of enforcement has resulted in uneven compliance across the industry, which has become increasingly competitive following the entry of large foreign-backed platforms over the past six to seven years.
“These players have taken the lion’s share of the market through aggressive pricing,” he said, adding that GDEX is shifting its focus towards the business-to-business segment, where service quality plays a bigger role than price alone.
The reference price guidelines were intended to promote sustainable pricing and fair competition in the courier sector. However, they will only become mandatory once formally gazetted.
Last November, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said the government was studying a proposal to introduce a mandatory floor price for courier services, backed by cost audits and industry-wide feasibility studies, to ensure operator sustainability while balancing consumer costs.
As at Oct 15, MCMC had licensed 102 courier companies under the Postal Services Act 2012, comprising 21 foreign-owned and 81 locally owned operators. Industry data shows that 15 major licensees handle about 98% of total parcel volume, with Indonesia’s J&T Express and SPX Xpress (Shopee Express) together controlling 73.5% of the market.
Teong said the intense price competition had reinforced GDEX’s strategy to diversify into technology services, which now account for nearly 20% of group revenue.
“This is to hedge against over-dependence on a single segment,” he said, describing the move as a long-term strategy rather than a short-term shift.
Commenting on Japan’s Yamato Holdings Co Ltd, which in October 2025 trimmed its stake in GDEX to 19.637% from 23.242% after selling 200 million shares in a direct business transaction, Teong said the group’s operational relationship with Yamato remains intact.
“They are still a very good partner, and our collaboration continues,” he said.
GDEX shares rose half a sen, or 3.7%, to 14 sen by midday on Tuesday, valuing the company at about RM789.8 million. The stock is up 7.7% so far this year.