THE cost of a number of Post Office services will rise next month - but the organisation is not yet revealing how much extra customers will have to pay.
It has said stamps will go up by two pence but businesses and the public will have to wait until March 28 to find out how much the price rises for services will affect them.
A statement said: "With effect from April 4, changes to postage and ancillary services rates will be introduced.
"Local and UK letter rates will rise by 2p with the price of a standard letter up to 100g for Isle of Man addresses rising to 37p and 38p for UK addresses.
"The guaranteed next-day special delivery service, airmail letters, international packets, surface mail and ancillary services including Isle of Man and UK ReDirect (which moves your mail when you move house) and Airsure (fast international service) will be subject to price changes."
The organisation is blaming rising costs for the business - including fuel and distribution costs across the network and 'an increase in costs from other partners' - for the affect on postal products and services.
The statement added: "Despite this news, Isle of Man Post Office's postal rates will continue to be one of the lowest in Europe when they increase next month and the increase is lower than other postal administrations.
"However there is some good news for friends and family of British Forces Post Office (BFPO) personnel as for the fourth successive year, they can continue to send their loved ones standard letters and parcels up to 2kg to any BFPO free of charge."
Parcelforce services will not be affected by the price increases and neither will there will be any changes in the price of Keepsafe (which looks after people's mail while they are off the Island), the response service handling fee, international ReDirect (which moves people's mail when they move house), handling fee surcharges, single collection fee and local to local parcels.
Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office Alan Crowe MLC said: "We are fighting to contain costs as much as we can and therefore our increase is as low as was possible.
"Royal Mail is increasing its stamp prices by five pence and we are only increasing ours by two pence.
"Not only is our increase less but our prices will still remain one of the lowest in Europe.
"An increase illustrates the need for our core business to counteract the current fall in volume at a loss of £1m per year.
"This year Isle of Man Post Office will be continuing to diversify commercially with the introduction of some new products and services.
"These are still in keeping with the traditional postal market but incorporate the changes in digital technology.
"We are seeing a 10 per cent decline in mail volumes and this is forecast to continue.
"Therefore the need to bridge the gap in revenue is more relevant than ever, especially as we contribute 50 per cent of our profits each year to the Isle of Man Government, helping towards building schools, providing healthcare and other essential components that make our Island such an enjoyable place to live and work."
