PostNL CEO warns mail may soon be delivered just twice a week
Mail delivery in the Netherlands may soon be reduced to just two days a week, PostNL’s outgoing chief executive Herna Verhagen warned, De Telegraaf reports.
Verhagen, who is stepping down after 13 years as CEO, said PostNL’s current five-day delivery model is outdated and unsustainable. “We are now performing a public service of five days per week that no one is waiting for,” she said. “It no longer fits this time.”
PostNL’s mail division is expected to post a financial loss this year, while the company’s share price has dropped so low that each share is now worth less than a postage stamp. Despite the decline, Verhagen stressed that physical mail will not disappear completely. “The mail carrier will still come to the door, just less frequently,” she told De Telegraaf. “That’s how we keep mail accessible to those who depend on it, in a way that fits this time.”
Verhagen blamed political inertia for preventing necessary reforms. She said outdated legislation from 2007, drafted before smartphones and instant messaging became widespread, continues to restrict PostNL’s ability to adapt to modern demand. “The current postal law dates back to 2007, before the iPhone and when there was barely any social media like WhatsApp,” she said. “It doesn’t match the needs of today or tomorrow.”
Raising prices on business mail is not the solution, she said. “That’s not the discussion. The real issue is that we’re providing a government service that no longer suits this time.”
While Denmark recently moved to abandon physical mail delivery, Verhagen said the Netherlands is not yet at that point. “We still send 1.6 billion letters a year in the Netherlands,” she said. “A large group of people still depend on physical mail. That’s why the mail carrier will keep coming—just not as often.”
