PostNL on time rating falls despite increase in prices; Cabinet may give PostNL a break

People in the Netherlands have paid more to send mail in the last few years, but the delivery quality has worsened, said the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) in its yearly Post and Packages Monitor. The regulator said they received many complaints about post and packages being delivered too late or carelessly. At the same time, the Cabinet said on Friday that mail may no longer have to be delivered most of the time within 24 hours starting next year.

The law states that 95 percent of letterbox post must be delivered within 24 hours. The ACM added that delivery companies only reached this target 89 percent of the time last year. “This is at odds with the price increases,” said ACM chair Manon Leijten. This has decreased significantly since 2019, when 94 percent of the letterbox posts were delivered on time.

At the same time, postage stamp prices increased to 1.01 euros in 2023 from 87 cents in 2019. The regulator said the increase was higher than inflation. PostNL raised the price to 1.09 euros at the start of this year, and it will rise again to 1.14 euros from July 1.

It has also become more expensive to send packages. The ACM claimed that consumers and small companies lose the most money. They pay 5.49 euros per package. The ACM reported that private individuals and business owners sent almost two percent more packages than in 2022. The number of postal items dropped by 8 percent, and most were sent by business shippers.

The revenue generated from post and package deliveries rose slightly to 3.3 billion euros.

From next year, mail may no longer have to be delivered within 24 hours, but within 48 hours, said Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens in a letter to Parliament on Friday. Delivery will continue five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday.

"The fact that the price is going up, but the mail is not delivered on time, is not good," Adriaansens said after the regular weekly Cabinet meeting. More time for mail delivery is one of the possible measures that the minister is now considering. "It is so worrying that I think my successor should get to work on it quickly."

She also said she thinks it is important to look at the future of the postal market. The ministry will investigate this. "There will always be a certain amount of letter mail." Although the size is decreasing, funeral mail, medical mail and letters from the Tax Authorities will always remain there, Adriaansens expects.

She noted that previous research shows that consumers and companies prefer delivery certainty over next-day delivery. That is why a longer delivery period is one of the options being looked at. Funeral cards and medical mail must still be delivered within 24 hours, six days a week, from Monday to Saturday.

A PostNL spokesperson reiterated the wish to be allowed to take two days to deliver mail, and eventually three days. This will not change until next year at the earliest, "if politicians support us in this." The delivery company pointed to a tight labor market and that a few months ago there were a thousand vacancies open. "But fortunately we see that this number is shrinking quickly," sje saod

PostNL also said that medical, business and funeral mail and packages are often delivered on time. DHL, who started delivering mail in the Netherlands last year, had not responded to the ACM report.