What should change for postal customers

The post office should be able to deliver letters more slowly in the future. The traffic light parties have agreed on changes to the postal law, and the cabinet has approved the plans. What else will change for consumers?

The Federal Cabinet today approved a proposal from the Ministry of Economic Affairs for changes to the postal law. “With our reform proposals, we are ensuring a comprehensive and affordable supply of letters and parcels to people – in the city and in the country,” said Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).

The rules, which date back to the 1990s, are intended to be adapted to changing demand in the Internet age. It is now the turn of the Bundestag and Bundesrat; the reform could be finalized in the spring of next year.

Why is there a postal law at all?

The former state-run Federal Post Office was privatized in the 1990s. The postal law should ensure competition, but at the same time guarantee the population’s basic supply of postal services. As a so-called “universal service provider”, Deutsche Post has to comply with very strict regulations. In return she gets tax breaks.

What should be changed in the law?

The main innovation: The postal service can take more time to deliver letters. This allows the group to reduce costs by, for example, avoiding night flights to transport letters. So far, the post office has to deliver 80 percent of the letters posted today on the next working day, and on the next working day the quota must be 95 percent.

The proposal from the lead Federal Ministry of Economics now stipulates that in future there will only be a minimum value of 95 percent for the third working day after it is put in the mailbox. On the fourth working day, 99 percent of the letters should reach the addressee. The letters should therefore be transported more slowly, but arrive reliably.

Will the number of branches remain the same?

The group has almost 13,000 post offices nationwide, most of which are post office counters at retailers. In some outskirts of town and larger villages, however, there are no longer any post offices to be found, even though the post office should have branches there – this is what a government regulation stipulates.

The gaps in the branch network are sometimes because the last supermarket or kiosk there has closed and the post office cannot find another partner. ATMs could provide a solution, but are not yet recognized in the branch network requirement. This could change in the future, even if only in individual cases with the approval of the Federal Network Agency.

Will postage become even more expensive?

This can currently be assumed. However, the amount of postage will not be regulated in the legal reform, but in a separate official procedure next year. The previously valid postage – 85 cents for a standard letter and 70 cents for a postcard – expires at the end of 2024. The Federal Network Agency will grant the postal service a price increase corridor, which the company will use.

The amended law is intended to prevent price increases too quickly. The postage for the standard letter will not be able to rise above the limit of a maximum of one euro in the next round in 2025, it was recently said in circles at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

What do the new rules mean for competitors?

Deutsche Post is still almost a monopolist, especially in the mail business. The company has a market share of 85 percent here, and more than 40 percent for packages.

With the new law, the federal government wants to ensure more competition and give the Federal Network Agency more powers. The Bonn authority should be able to take more effective action against “anti-competitive pricing”. For the first time, it should be able to impose severe fines on the universal service provider Deutsche Post in the event of quality defects.

Deutsche Post’s competitors in the letter sector include Arriva and Citipost, and in the parcel business they are primarily DPD, Hermes, GLS, UPS and the Amazon delivery service. The latter is number 2 in Germany behind Deutsche Post DHL.

What is controversial about the reform?

The use of subcontractors in the parcel industry always causes dissatisfaction. Customs reports cases of undeclared work and illegal employment, and the ver.di union is calling for a ban on subcontractors.

The Federal Ministry of Economics’s proposal doesn’t go that far, but the rules should be tightened. In the future, clients should be obliged to check their subcontractors according to defined criteria.

Should they working conditions improve?

Delivery workers sometimes also have to carry heavy gardening and sports equipment and even dumbbells to the upper floors of apartment buildings. In the future, according to the law, heavy packages weighing ten kilos or more should be marked so that the delivery person does not make a mistake. From 20 kilos onwards, two-person transport or technical aids should be mandatory.