1. Why is the Postal Act being amended?
The purpose of the amendment to the Postal Act is to reform the regulation in order to better respond to the sharply decreased delivery volumes and changing customer needs. Digitalization, changes in customer behavior and tight competition have reduced the volume of letter mail delivered by Posti by nearly 70 percent over a decade. This decline will continue strongly in the coming years when the state and authorities will transfer their public services from paper mail to digital communications.
The less there is to deliver, the higher the cost of each item. By lightening regulation, the rise of costs can be mitigated and a nationwide universal service for Finns can be ensured in the future. The reforms will also remove the need for state funding for the universal service, as Posti will be able to continue to maintain it without public subsidies.
2. What delivery services does the Postal Act concern?
The universal service obligation imposed on Posti by the Postal Act applies to cash-paid products (including ordinary letters, registered and insured letters, letters with advice of delivery and parcels sent abroad) that represent less than 3% of all mail delivered by Posti. The delivery of newspapers, magazines and advertisements is not covered by the universal service. Corporate letters, domestic parcels and parcels sent from abroad are also not covered by the universal service.
3. What practical changes will the new Postal Act bring to mail recipients?
The amendment of the Postal Act will not bring about major practical changes to mail recipients. The Postal Act mainly concerns the universal service, i.e. the delivery of stamped letters, which account for less than 3% of Posti's total delivery volume. Due to the amendment of the Postal Act, the universal service items will switch to three-day delivery and picking, but it will not affect the delivery speed of the items, which will remain the same. Five-day delivery for paper newspapers in sparsely populated areas will continue, as newspapers will be delivered on two weekdays with the help of the state’s delivery support.
4. Won't reducing delivery days from five to three slow down mail delivery?
No. The reform will not change the delivery speed of universal service items provided for in the Postal Act, which will remain unchanged. 50% of universal service letters must be received by the fourth day after the mailing day of the letter also in the future. Even with the three-day delivery, this current delivery speed can be maintained. Last year, approximately 96% of universal service letters were delivered by the fourth day, at the latest. All other items, i.e. approximately 97% of all items, are delivered by Posti in accordance with the service level agreement agreed with the customer.
5. How will the amendment of the Postal Act affect the delivery of official letters?
Official letters are commercial and competitive contract-based deliveries, and Posti delivers these products in accordance with the service level agreement agreed with the customer. Currently, the service level agreement for the delivery of the Economy letters typically used by the authorities is 4–5 business days and the Priority letters is 2–3 business days.
6. How can a mail recipient be sure which days they will receive mail?
As the universal service provider, Posti is obligated to inform households of the days of picking and delivery of the universal service and any changes to them and to maintain information on the picking and delivery days on its website. Posti will build a web service, where mail recipients can check the delivery days of their postal code area.
Universal service letters are delivered to households three times a week. The number of letters has decreased so that, on average, a universal service letter is delivered to the household only about once every three weeks. The Postal Act does not regulate the delivery days of commercial letters delivered by Posti or other delivery companies. In addition to Posti, letters are delivered in early-morning delivery areas by more than a dozen other delivery companies.
7. What does the subsidy for newspaper delivery mean?
The switch to the three-day delivery will introduce state subsidy for newspaper delivery, which creates the conditions for a five-day delivery of newspapers in sparsely populated areas, i.e. outside the early-morning delivery areas. On subsidized days, newspapers published at least three weekdays a week are delivered to subscribers, but it is also possible to combine other delivery products that are not subsidized with them.
Delivery support will be tendered, and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom will be responsible for the preparation and implementation of tendering. The support is paid to the delivery company and the state subsidy can cover the net costs of newspaper delivery and a reasonable profit.
8. Will the Postal Act change the mail delivery in the archipelago?
Yes and no. The new Postal Act will change the number of households covered by the exceptional delivery, which will be reduced from 1,000 to 500.á This does not entail any practical change in the archipelago delivery, as there are fewer than 200 households covered by the exceptional delivery and there are no plans to grow this number. At the moment, Posti's five-day delivery covers all the islands to which there is connection traffic five days a week. In the future, the archipelago will also switch to three-day delivery. 9. Does the Postal Act affect Posti's parcel delivery and service points? The amendments of the Postal Act do not concern parcel delivery or Posti's service points. The parcel market in Finland is highly competitive, with several domestic and foreign postal and delivery companies operating in the market. Posti has developed its service points on the basis of the customer needs and demand. Over the past ten years, Posti has grown its own Retail Network from approximately 1,000 outlets to more than 3,000 service points.
10. When will the Postal Act enter into force?
The amendment of the Postal Act is scheduled to enter into force on 1 October 2023 simultaneously with the delivery support. The date of entry into force will be decided at the presidential session when the Act is adopted.