A group of taxpayer and consumer advocates in the US are calling for an end to the US Postal Service’s monopoly on mailboxes. In response to a Federal Trade Commission request for comment in the Federal Register, the group questions a rule that bars putting letters or packages in mailboxes without paying a fee to the Postal Service. The rule"injects unnecessary nuisance, cost andineffi ciency into simple acts of communitycommunication," the group wrotein a letter to the FTC.

The letter was signed by offi cials from the Consumer Postal Council, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and other groups. Under the ban, private citizens cannot put neighbourhood fl iers or party invitations in boxes. And as online commerce grows, inability to receive private deliveries in mailboxes causes a mounting inconvenience, the letter said. The FTC is expected to respond by August.