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Aug 25, 2020 at 8:00 AMThe parcel association BIEK (Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics) finds the postal rates of Deutsche Post too high and has therefore applied to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) to correct the latest postal rate increase.
(Berlin) The parcel association BIEK (Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics) has applied to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) to correct the latest increase in postal rates. The basis for this is a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court dated May 27, 2020, which BIEK won. In this ruling, the highest German administrative court declared the postal rate increase for the period from 2016 to 2018 unlawful. The Federal Network Agency is responsible for approving postal rate increases by Deutsche Post (DPAG). At the behest of the federal government, it had unlawfully established new criteria for approval. Thus, the determination of the allowable profit for DPAG was based on the high profit margins of foreign former state monopoly companies. In contrast, it would have been correct to assess the DPAG profit based solely on the low entrepreneurial risk of DPAG.
Current Postal Rate Unlawful
“After the ruling, it is clear that the current postal rate is also unlawful,” said Marten Bosselmann, chairman of BIEK. The postal rate increase for the period from 2019 to 2021 was approved on a comparable basis as the previous one. BIEK calls on BNetzA to revoke the current approval and adjust the postal rates. “It cannot be,” said Bosselmann, “that consumers still pay an unlawfully excessive postal rate until 2021.”
Financing of Parcel Products through Postal Rates
Another error that BIEK had criticized in its lawsuit needs to be corrected: The currently applicable postal rate approval allows DPAG to finance costs of its parcel products through postal rates. This enables Deutsche Post to lower parcel prices and thereby distort competition in the parcel markets.
The ruling of the Federal Administrative Court shows, according to Marten Bosselmann, that the legal and regulatory framework for the postal market urgently needs to be adjusted: “On the one hand, BNetzA must immediately adjust the postal rate approval to relieve consumers and ensure equal treatment in the parcel market. On the other hand, the federal government is obliged to finally modernize the Postal Act and strengthen competition, also in the interest of consumer-friendly services.”
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