PostNL has been urging for some time: an extra day to deliver mail. If it is up to outgoing Minister Vincent Karremans (Economic Affairs), that will happen. PostNL must continue to deliver five days a week.
Delivering mail is becoming less profitable for PostNL. But because the company falls under the postal law, it is still required to deliver letters and cards within 24 hours. That may change.
Karremans wants to extend the delivery time from one to two days. A large majority in Parliament had previously voted against a similar proposal from his predecessor.
In this new proposal, PostNL must continue to deliver mail five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. From 2028 or 2029, the company may need an extra day, the minister warns in advance.
For medical mail and sympathy cards, nothing changes. Those must still be delivered within 24 hours six days a week.
Number of letters and cards has halved
PostNL has been asking for a relaxation of the rules for some time. In ten years, the mail has halved, the company announced in February. This makes it increasingly expensive to have to go along all streets every day. In practice, PostNL often failed to meet the 24 hours.
To cover the losses, the company asked the government for 68 million euros at the beginning of this year, but Karremans did not want that. However, the prices of stamps will increase and PostNL will remove mailboxes.