The first reform of the German Postal Act in 26 years has been sealed: The amendment will give Deutsche Post more time to deliver letters, while at the same time ensuring that they reach consumers more reliably.

The Bundesrat approved the plans on Friday.

In Germany, 60 million letters and ten million parcels are sent every day - but the number of letters is falling and consumers are increasingly using e-mail. The amendment is intended to ensure a nationwide and affordable supply. In order to improve competition on the market, the Federal Network Agency will be given more powers. Working conditions for parcel carriers are also to be improved. The Bundestag had already approved the plans.

Until now, at least 80 percent of letters in Germany had to be delivered on the following working day and 95 percent had to reach the recipient within two working days. In future, 95 percent of standard letters will reach the recipient on the third working day after posting and 99 percent on the fourth working day. This means that Swiss Post is also doing away with night flights in letter delivery. "Longer transit times mean that night flights are no longer necessary," said DHL CEO Tobias Meyer.

POST WANTS TO INCREASE LETTER POSTAGE

Post's competitors have repeatedly accused the DAX-listed company of price dumping in the large customer business. The Network Agency is to introduce new rules for setting letter postage rates for private customers - and a kind of price cap. The Ministry of Economic Affairs recently announced that postage for standard letters will not be able to rise above a maximum of one euro in the next round in 2025. The bulk product currently costs 85 cents - this could change as early as next year. Swiss Post is pushing for an increase in postage.

The amendment does not go far enough for competitors of the Post. Competition is not being sufficiently strengthened, explained the German Parcel and Express Logistics Association (BPEX). "Regrettably, competitors in the parcel market are still not subject to the same conditions," criticized the BPEX. Like DHL, however, the association welcomed the fact that the amendment has ended years of uncertainty over the future regulation of the industry.

(Report by Matthias Inverardi and Christian Krämer. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)