The Authority for Consumer Affairs & Markets (ACM) is concerned about the declining quality of letter and parcel delivery, especially as it becomes increasingly expensive to send something. This situation creates a contradiction, the ACM highlights in the 2023 Postal and Parcel Monitoring.
According to the ACM, turnover growth in the postal sector was strong last year. However, “at the same time, we find that many consumers and commercial shippers are experiencing a deterioration in overall service quality,” says ACM board member Manon Leijten. “This conflicts with the price increases we see in many industries.”
Revenue growth in the postal world was due to consumers sending more parcels last year, even as this became increasingly expensive. For a volume increase of nearly 2 percent, there was a price increase of 4 percent.
According to the ACM, this price increase was mainly introduced to compensate for the decline in letters: 58 million euros less were earned last year, mainly because consumers send fewer letters and postcards. But companies also send much less correspondence.
To offset this decline, the price of a stamp surpassed the one-euro mark late last year. This month, PostNL announced a new increase of five cents. Starting from July, a stamp will cost 1.14 euros. Not only that: PostNL also wants more time to deliver mail. The company wants the legal requirement to deliver mail within one day changed to two or three days. Meanwhile, the ACM notes that the price of a stamp has risen faster than inflation in recent years: “Consumers have been paying more for mail delivery.”
