When the postal law was last radically reformed, many German citizens still considered emails to be a newfangled gimmick and chats were unknown to them. Times have changed.
Anyone waiting for letters will need more patience next year than before. After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat has now also voted in favor of reforming the outdated postal law, which was last fundamentally amended in 1997. Back then, it was often even more important than today that letters arrive particularly quickly. For decades, therefore, there was a requirement that 80 percent of mail posted today should reach the recipient on the next working day and 95 percent on the day after that.
Everyday communication has now changed completely. People rely on emails and chats instead of letters. Because most letters are no longer urgent, the time pressure is reduced: the 80 percent delivery rate for the first working day after posting has been dropped off and the 95 percent rate has been pushed from the second to the third working day. A new requirement is that 99 percent of the letters posted today must be delivered four working days later.
Because the time pressure is reduced, the Bonn-based company can reduce its costs. It has already stopped sending mail by plane within Germany due to the legal reform, thereby saving money and improving its carbon footprint.
Letter delivery will not slow down “suddenly”
So are consumers facing a long wait as early as January? No, says Post boss Tobias Meyer. The delivery time for letters – i.e. the time until they reach the recipient – will not change “suddenly” at the beginning of 2025, but rather there will be a gradual transition. The transition will take one to two years. This means that letters will still be delivered quite quickly in some regions in 2026.
Meyer stressed that these are minimum requirements and that the actual value could be higher. “It’s no use to us to sit around with a pile of letters and wait until the time is up.” Because there are fewer letters in the digital age, they can be sorted more quickly.
Prio letter on the brink
Anyone who is in a hurry to send letters in the digital age can currently send a so-called priority letter – it should arrive the next working day and costs a surcharge of 1.10 euros. This shipping method is a niche product. This is also because most standard letters are currently sent quite quickly and the time advantage of the priority letter is small. From 2025, this advantage could become greater and demand could increase. However, from January onwards, VAT will have to be paid for this type of shipment, which has not been the case so far.
That makes it “significantly more expensive,” said Meyer, adding that they would have to consider whether they would continue to offer it at all. In future, there may only be registered mail, which is faster to send. A standard letter sent as a registered letter costs 3.20 euros; the priority standard letter only costs 1.95 euros.
Bonn authority gets fine sword
As part of the reform, the role of the Federal Network Agency will be strengthened; in future it will be able to impose fines and thus increase the pressure on the postal service. “The new postal law provides the Federal Network Agency with the necessary instruments,” said agency head Klaus Müller. “We will use these instruments and continue to ensure a sustainable postal service and fair competition.”
Over the past two years, the Bonn authority has received an unusually high number of complaints from citizens about Deutsche Post. In the end, the network agency could only raise a warning finger and look grimly at the nearby post office tower – it did not have a sharp sword. This is now changing somewhat.
Number of complaints still quite high
The level of complaints is still high: According to the network agency, between January and May 2024, around 17,000 complaints about the postal sector were received, 4,000 more than in the same period last year. Most of the critical comments were about the market leader Deutsche Post. According to the post office, however, some of the resentment is wrongly directed against it. In fact, it is sometimes due to mistakes made by other companies.
More machines for letters and parcels
The legal reform also allows the installation of vending machines instead of post offices. However, strict limits are set for this – the vending machines can only be counted towards the branch network requirement that still applies in cases where the post office cannot find a retailer who also installs a post office counter in their shop. This is likely to be the case in some villages where the last supermarket or kiosk has closed.
Next postage increase comes in early 2025
A standard letter currently costs 85 cents, but it will probably be more expensive from January – a new postage rate will apply from 2025. The network agency has already started a calculation process to determine the amount, and will set a scope for adjusting the prices. A decision on how high the postage will be for the different types of mailings is likely to be made in the autumn.
The amendment to the law also has something to do with this, because the authority will refer to the new requirements in its calculations. However, the traffic light coalition has committed itself to ensuring that the standard letter does not cost more than one euro.
Source: Stern
