You can rely on the post office – at least most of the time. More than 80 percent of letters reach the recipient on the next working day, and this is also what German postal law requires: 80 percent must reach the recipient on the first working day after dispatch, 95 percent on the second. These are the rules – so far.
The Federal Ministry of Economics wants to amend the 25-year-old postal law and relax the previous requirements. In the future, 95 percent of letters will only have to reach the recipient on the third working day. A letter that is posted on Friday should arrive on Wednesday at the latest. Or by Thursday at the latest: Then, as the ministry demands in its proposal, 99 percent of all letters should reach their destination. There has never been such a strict requirement before.
The reason for the change, according to the text of the bill, was “the change in the meaning of the letter”. Firstly, it has lost its importance, and secondly, it is no longer the first choice when it comes to fast communication. Emails and text messages can do this much better.
So there are fewer letters – and they don’t have to travel quite as quickly, argues the ministry. And because the transport of letters becomes cheaper if it takes place under less time pressure, this should also help to curb the increase in postage. In 1997, when the Postal Act was passed, a standard letter still cost the equivalent of 55 cents. Today there are 85.
Express letters still arrive within one working day, but are more expensive
The ministry also wants to cap this price increase in other ways. A separate paragraph is intended to regulate the “affordability” of the so-called “universal services”. Since the price for a standard letter is currently rising above one euro in some European countries, an “emergency brake” has been put in place, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, at least in the next price increase process. “The postage for the standard letter should not rise above the limit of one euro in the next procedure.” Of course it could also be significantly lower.
All of this does not mean that a letter cannot be delivered within one working day. If you value this, you will have to resort to more expensive deliveries, such as express letters. Postmen and postmen should also continue to pedal every working day: “In the future, postal services will continue to include delivery of letters and parcels on all six working days,” says the draft law. And if the postal service or its competitors do not do their job well, the Federal Network Agency should also be able to impose hefty fines in the future.
The amendment should also enable more competition
In any case, the postal law originally had one main purpose: it was intended to stimulate competition. This was only moderately successful for letters; Deutsche Post still has a market share of 85 percent. When it comes to packages, at least every second one is transported by the competition – but here too, six companies share virtually the entire market. The amendment is intended to make it easier for postal competitors to gain a foothold in the market for small consignments of goods, which are often transported via the mail network. The dominant postal service must grant them access to this market.
And there is also something in the law regarding large, heavy shipments of goods. Because these sometimes put a strain on parcel deliverers, parcels weighing more than ten kilograms should be marked in the future. In the future, four hands will be able to carry more than 20 kilos of weight. Of course, all of this is provided that the coalition can agree on it: from now on, the federal government departments must deal with the proposal. The cabinet is expected to approve it this year, after which the amendment must pass the Bundestag. Only then will the innovation come into force. But then not 80, 95 or 99 percent. But one hundred percent.