Posti allowed to reduce mail deliveries from Sep 15

The government on Thursday submitted the bill on the Postal Act for approval and issued the Decree and the amendments to the Act and Decree are due to enter into force on September 15.

The parliament on June 21 amended the Postal Act with the provision for allowing Posti, the postal and logistic services operator in the country to reduce the mail deliveries to three times a week in some urban areas.

According to the new law, Posti will be allowed to make exceptions to its previous requirement of five-days-per-week deliveries in urban areas where morning newspaper deliveries are carried out.

The postal department will continue five-day mail delivery services in area that are not already served by newspaper delivery services-a stipulation that allows newspapers to continue to be delivered five days per week in most rural areas.

The delivery services, however, could be conducted by outsourcing other companies.

The amendment will impact significantly the people living in the Archipelago.

The aim of the amendments is to respond to the changes in the operating environment. The reform will apply to universal service products, i.e. letters or parcels below 2 kg in weight carrying a postage stamp.

Data from postcode and address listing systems will be made available for easier utilisation by other postal service companies. According to the reform, the pricing of universal service products must be reasonable, transparent and non-discriminatory. Sending correspondence in braille to the visually impaired will be free of charge.

The right to make exemptions to the requirements for delivery frequency in areas with difficult access will be made more flexible. In blocks of flats, a decision to take mailbox delivery into use can in future be made by the housing company.

The Decree on the location of postal service facilities will be amended so that the strict kilometre or percentage requirements will be removed.

The service facilities will continue to be located, according to the current requirements, in connection with other widely used service facilities in the area or along commonly used routes.