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Why you might not receive post in Germany six days a week in future

Post in Germany is currently delivered from Monday to Saturday. But that could change in future.

Why you might not receive post in Germany six days a week in future
Archive photo shows a Deutsche Post delivery person in Ingolstadnt, Bavaria. Photo: DPA

Germany’s Economic Affairs and Energy Ministry announced on Thursday that the frequency of delivering post will be reviewed as part of an ongoing bid to reform the Postal Act (Postgesetz).

“While European law requires delivery five days a week as part of universal service, national law (in Germany) goes beyond this with six delivery days,” said a key points paper on the reform of the law.

Now the Economics Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier wants to investigate “whether delivery on six days is still necessary”. 

“We want to put the issue up for discussion,” said a ministry spokesperson but added: “We have not yet made a decision.”

The amendments to the law will likely come into force in autumn 2020.

There have been several debates recently asking whether delivering letters from Monday to Saturday should continue in the digital age. 

READ ALSO: Postage costs set to spike in Germany

Mail operator Deutsche Post says less than two percent of weekly mail is delivered on Mondays – so it's possible this day could be cut from delivery service. 

Fines could be imposed

Altmaier is aiming to modernize postal law in times of digitalization, and to strengthen consumer rights. 

As part of the proposals, he wants to extend the powers of watchdog, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

“The Bundesnetzagentur should be able to act as a strong consumer protection authority in the postal sector,” he said. “Fines could be imposed in the event of significant violations of quality standards,” Altmaier said. 

The proposals are now to be discussed in the government, as well as with the federal states and various associations.

The postal market is currently going through a radical change. The volume of mail is falling due to the increase of digital communication like e-mail. 

However, the parcel delivery market is flourishing, driven by the booming online trade.

“After 20 years, it makes sense to review the existing regulations and adapt them to the changing market conditions and the wishes of customer,” said a Deutsche Post spokesman.

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Can you rely on Sweden’s Postnord to deliver cards and presents on time?

Wednesday marks the last day you can send first class letters or parcels in Sweden and still hope they'll make it in time for Christmas Eve. But how reliable is PostNord, the company which runs Sweden's postal service?

Can you rely on Sweden's Postnord to deliver cards and presents on time?

What can you still send and hope for it to be delivered by Christmas? 

The Christmas deadline for letters and parcels outside of Sweden already passed on December 12th, as has the deadline for ordering anything online and hoping for it to arrive on time, with most e-commerce companies advising customers that anything ordered later than December 19th will not arrive in time. 

But if you’re sending first-class letters, pre-paid parcels, and small packages for delivery through the letterbox, you can still send them up until December 21st. The same goes for other parcel services such as Postnord MyPack Home, PostNord MyPack Home small, PostNord MyPack Collect, and Postpaket parcels.  

And if you’re willing to pay a bit extra, you can send express mail letters, express parcels, and first class ‘varubrev’ small parcels up until December 22nd. 

“Those dates still apply. We have written in a press statement that if you send by those dates you can be pretty sure that they will arrive in time,” Anders Porelius, head of press at PostNord, told The Local on Tuesday. 

But can you trust Postnord to deliver when they say they will? 

Not entirely.

The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, Sweden’s postal regulator, ruled on December 8th that the company was failing to meet its regulatory target of delivering 95 percent of all letters within two working days, with 28 million letters delivered late between June and November. 

An investigative documentary by TV4’s Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts) programme, was sent pictures showing huge piles of late, undelivered letters in one of PostNord’s terminals, and interviewed postal workers who said that they were unable to complete their deliveries now they had been moved from daily to every other day, as they had twice as many letters to deliver on the days when they worked. 

“You get yelled at by the customers, and rightly so, you get yelled at by your bosses, and you scold yourself because you feel like you’re not able to do enough,” said Emilia Leijon, one postal worker. “We pretty much never manage to deliver a whole satchel. There’s too much post and too little time.” 

What is PostNord doing about the delays? 

The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority has given the company until January 30th to carry out an analysis into why it is not managing to meet its targets, and to draw up an action plan of how it is going to improve. 

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