Deutsche Post is considering important changes to letters - it affects all households
Created: 07/12/2022, 16:53
A postman from Deutsche Post: In the future, her letters could come from two different price categories - provided the Bundestag changes the postal law.
© Monika Skolimowska / dpa
The "yellow giant" would like to deliver the post at two speeds in the future - with different prices, of course.
But the plan catches on.
Bonn - If Deutsche Post has its way, there could soon be a two-class society for letters.
"We could imagine giving our customers a choice in the future as to whether the letters should be delivered quickly or whether they should be allowed to travel a little longer, with corresponding price differentiation," said a Post spokesman on Wednesday of the German Press Agency.
The customers “could then decide whether a particularly fast delivery is worth a surcharge”, Nikola Hagleitner, the board member responsible for the letter business, advertised
such a solution in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Wednesday).
Such different delivery speeds also exist in many other European countries, according to the post office.
New postal concept: Yellow giant needs reform of the postal law
However, a prerequisite for such a step would probably be that the upcoming reform of the postal law would eliminate the “yellow giant”'s obligation to deliver at least 80 percent of the letters the following day.
According to company information, 83 to 84 percent of the letters posted arrive the following day - provided that it is not a Sunday or public holiday.
Swiss Post considers these "rigid delivery time specifications" to be outdated in the era of electronic communication and has been campaigning for their abolition for some time - for business reasons, but also because the night flights required for this pollute the environment.
The traffic light coalition wants to change and modernize the postal law - its cornerstones are more than two decades old and come from a time when many citizens still wrote letters and postcards instead of emails and chat messages.
In any case, Swiss Post will have to wait for a corresponding decision by the Bundestag.
More expensive and faster: Swiss Post already has a corresponding concept
The idea of adding a surcharge for faster shipments is not entirely new for Deutsche Post anyway.
The so-called priority letter is already available today, which promises preferential treatment of the letter for a surcharge of EUR 1.10.
"With our priority additional service, your letters are more likely to be delivered on the next working day," advertises the Post.
But the incentive to pay the surcharge is low if the letter will probably be delivered the next day without any additional payment.
Two-price policy for letters based on the Swiss model
Examples in Austria and Switzerland show what could change if Swiss Post implements its plans.
The Confederates have A and B mail.
A standard letter up to 100 grams costs 1.10 francs (1.12 euros) for the fast route and 0.90 francs for the slower mail.
The Post promises to deliver the fast mail on the next working day and on Saturday.
With the B-Post, delivery can take up to three working days, and it is not delivered on Saturdays.
Austrian Post differentiates between priority letters and eco letters.
A priority letter up to 20 grams costs 1 euro and is with the recipient the next day.
An Eco-Brief costs only 0.81 cents, but takes 2 to 3 working days.
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Post plans consumer protection sees "signal in the wrong direction"
Consumer advocates are critical of Swiss Post's initiative.
"Until now, the rules have been that 80 percent of all letters have to be delivered the next day, and 95 percent by the second day.
Saying now that we want to go down on the claim and make it more expensive is of course not in the interests of the consumer," said Iwona Husemann from the NRW consumer center.
"From the point of view of consumer protection, this is a signal in the wrong direction."
The postal advance comes at a time when the image of the Bonn-based group is already scratched due to problems with letter delivery.
The number of complaints to the Federal Network Agency about letters that arrived late or did not arrive at all doubled to more than 30,000 in the first nine months of this year.
The supervisory authority reported last month that it was mostly about deficiencies in letter delivery at the market leader, Deutsche Post.
The Post itself spoke of "local problems" and justified them with a high level of sickness and the difficult situation on the labor market, where too few skilled workers could be found.
Deutsche Post: Federal Network Agency would like more detailed investigations
The Federal Network Agency reacted cautiously to the Post initiative.
"A change in the term specifications or a price differentiation can be discussed," said a spokeswoman for the authority.
However, the implications of such a step would need to be carefully examined.
"Digital mail cannot completely replace analogue letters at the moment, and there is a legitimate interest in letters being sent regularly and quickly." This applies, for example, to important personal correspondence or official and business shipments.
A short delivery time for letters - this is also confirmed by surveys - is very important to people.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Post still has other open issues to clarify.
The Verdi union is demanding, among other things, 15 percent more wages for postal employees - they recently described this as "remote from reality".
(dpa, lf)
