The Post is allowed to dawdle a little – economy

Many citizens will be annoyed by this proposal. At least all those where the postal service only delivered a long-awaited letter after a few days – and not the very next morning. The Federal Ministry of Economics wants to reform the postal law and could remove the requirement that 80 percent of the letters have to reach the addressee within one day. This is what it says in a key issues paper from Robert Habecks. Deutsche Post would then receive the government’s blessing to take more time. At first it sounds as if Habeck would capitulate in the face of a grievance instead of remedying it. Official junk permit, does that have to be?

In reality, this reform of the Postal Code is right and long overdue. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since the last revision. Times have changed – and with them the needs of customers. If a document needs to reach the recipient really quickly, companies, authorities and consumers can now simply send an e-mail, preferably with a PDF file attached. Unfortunately, Germany lags behind many other countries when it comes to digitization; forms often have to be signed by hand and sent by letter, although there are also digital signatures. But even these annoying shipments only have to be with the recipient within 24 hours in the very rarest of cases.

For most letters it is quite sufficient if they arrive in two, three or five days. In addition to the 80 percent mark for the next day, the postal law also stipulates another target: 95 percent of the items must be delivered two days after they have been put in the mailbox. The government could even tighten this requirement.

Forgoing the first goal saves Swiss Post stress and could help the climate. After all, the group would have to transport fewer letters by plane through Germany. At the same time, costs are falling, which is not unimportant, because letter volumes have been shrinking for years. This decline makes it less economical to maintain nationwide mail service. And that in turn is reflected sooner or later in postage increases. In the end they were violent.

Customers could buy a premium service

Of course there will be situations in which customers still need 24-hour delivery. For example, when they remember on Monday that it’s their father’s birthday on Tuesday and they need to quickly send a greeting card. But for such cases, Swiss Post can introduce a premium service. Consumers buy a slightly more expensive stamp, in return the company guarantees quick delivery. This already exists in Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland, for example. In this way, citizens can decide for themselves how valuable next-morning delivery is to them. Very often customers will come to the conclusion that their letter does not require the extra service.

It is also good for the citizens that the legal reform would strengthen the role of the Federal Network Agency. For example, the government could decide that the Bonn authority can impose fines on the post office in the future. For example, when too many customers in a region have to wait four days for their letter instead of two.

In addition, the legal act is intended to make life easier for smaller rivals of Deutsche Post and thus lead to more competition. In addition, the postal companies should work together better on delivery. Then a postman would throw in the mail from different postal companies. And fewer of the competitors’ delivery vans would have to struggle through the inner cities.

The reform of the postal law is therefore a win – and the waiver of next-day delivery destinations is not a great loss.

source site