Because staff are absent due to corona infections and recruitment is more difficult than before, Swiss Post is currently having significant problems with letter delivery.
Angered by late or lost letters, more and more citizens are complaining to the Federal Network Agency. Around 9,700 complaints were received in October, almost twice as many as in September (5,000), the Bonn regulatory authority said when asked by the dpa.
In the year to date there have been more than 30,000 complaints, twice as many as in the whole of the previous year (15,000). “The trend of increasing complaints continues,” said the network agency. The Post speaks of “local problems” and justifies them with a high number of corona sickness and a tense job market.
1.2 billion letters transported per month
The complaints can be directed against all German parcel and letter service providers. This year, most of the critical comments are about deficiencies in letter delivery at Deutsche Post, which transports around 1.2 billion letters every month.
The network agency is a point of contact for complaints, but the authority cannot do much. If there is a regional accumulation of complaints, she initiates so-called occasional checks, which are a kind of written warning. The head of the network agency, Klaus Müller, recently called for his authority to be given sanctions and thereby increase the pressure on Swiss Post. This could be regulated in the forthcoming postal law reform.
Representatives of the FDP parliamentary group and the opposition CDU/CSU in the Bundestag assessed the initiative by the former Green politician Müller positively. The Post, in turn, argues that sanctions would not help in such “challenging situations”.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
