Smiths News has revealed that it is to increase its carriage charges by 3.1% from September.
According to the news wholesaler, 18,000 news retailers will see their bills rise when the new template takes effect from 2 September.
Those with the largest news bills will have to pay £69.20 a week for their newspapers and magazines to be delivered.
The company said the rise was due to “unprecedented cost inflation across wages, fuel, and driver retention”, adding that it had been a “difficult decision” to make.
In response, NFRN National President Muntazir Dipoti, said: “With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to bite and our bills continuing to rise, news of this increase is a real blow.
“While HND operators can try to pass on the costs to their customers, this is not an option for newsagents selling counter-only copies and could make selling newspapers and magazines unviable for even more Fed members.”
Dipoti added that it was now time for publishers to intervene if the printed word was to continue to be available nationally.
He said: “The current system of charges going up and sales going down is unsustainable.
“No longer can publishers hide behind the argument that carriage charges are an issue between wholesaler and retailer only, particularly as they control both price and margin. It is high time they took action to ensure that any carriage charge that is applied is fair and affordable.”
The NFRN’s news committee chairman Vince Malone added: “I really wonder if the Smiths News board understands the news channel and especially the important role that independent retailers play.
“Carriage charges are outdated and unfair as they deny retailers a large slice of the margin that they should receive from selling news.”
