Automat instead of a branch
Automats are considered post office for the first time
Buy stamps, place a package – and still chat with the seller? This is not possible in nine post office in Germany, because: there is no longer a person as a service.
In Germany, machines have been recognized as official post office for the first time. Nine approvals for automated stations have been granted instead of universal service branches, according to a letter from the Federal Network Agency to its advisory board, which is available to the German Press Agency.
These are so -called post stations in which packages can be handed over and picked up, bought stamps and letters can be thrown in. Video advice is also possible. Such machines have been around for several years, but they have not yet been recognized as branches – so they did not help the post to fulfill their branch network. That changes now.
It is about two locations in NRW (Dortmund and Siegen), two in Bavaria (Hummeltal and Egling), two in Baden-Württemberg (Steinhausen an der Rottum and Ebersbach an der Fils), one in Hesse (Aßlar), one in Lower Saxony (Georgsmarienhütte) and one in Saxony-Anhalt (Muldestausee).
Post is obliged to have a branch in communities with more than 2000 inhabitants. In addition, the branch in coherent built -in residential areas must not be further away than two kilometers. Post has not complied with these requirements for years, in July 2024 there were 141 compulsory locations in Germany – there should have been a branch there, but it was not there.
This in turn was essentially due to structural change: in villages, small towns and on the outskirts, there are fewer and fewer kiosks, supermarkets and other shops that could also have a postal switch in addition to their core business-such retailers are then considered post office.
Structural change is a problem for the post office
If the last shop had closed in a village, the post had its effort and need to find a replacement. Sometimes she then stopped a container that had limited opening times but met the requirements of the old postal law. The requirements were relaxed with the amendment to the postal law last year – the branch network obligation remained, but since then, certain machines can be counted towards the mandatory duty.
However, Swiss Post needs the approval of the Federal Network Agency, and local representatives are also included. This is intended to prevent the post from pushing branches on a large scale and the attractiveness of villages and small towns. In nine cases, the regulatory authority gives the green light. She has other applications for other locations that she wants to examine gradually.
A spokesman for the post welcomed the approval by the Federal Network Agency. “The post station is a customer-friendly machine solution that is available around the clock and offers our customers the most important letter and package services.”
dpa
Source: Stern
