DHL Express to hike rates by nearly 10% in India from Jan

Logistics services provider DHL Express today said it will hike prices by an average 9.9 percent for Indian customers from 2014 to counter impact of inflation and weakness in the rupee against the US dollar. "In India, the average price increase for Time Definite International products will be 9.9 per cent," the company said in a statement.

Country Manager - India, DHL Express, RS Subramanian said mitigating the impact of high inflation has been a key driver behind the world's leading international express services provider's pricing strategy in India.

"We are also faced with the added pressure of the depreciating rupee. Since January 2013 the Indian rupee has depreciated by over 16 per cent and so far DHL has absorbed costs whilst ensuring that delivery times and service quality continued to improve," said Subramanian.

The increased rates will be effective from January 1, 2014. The company said the annual rate increase is also driven by the continuous investments made to support growth and improve quality and impact of inflation on input costs.

It added the pricing strategy is targeted at ensuring a sustainable value proposition for customers while the company continued to make significant investments in its global and in-country network.

In 2013, DHL added capacity to air networks in all regions globally and in India, it made significant investments towards strengthening the existing network and expanding the footprint, he said.

It also announced a general average price increase in each of the 220 countries and territories that it serves.