PostNL reinstalls collection box in Dutch town

Dutch postal company PostNL has reinstalled a collection box in the town of Overschild in the northern Dutch province of Groningen. It did so after residents in Overschild had filed a request for enforcement with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). After consultations with ACM, PostNL has reinstalled collection boxes in several other areas as well.

Collection boxes must be located within a certain radius

In residential areas with over 5,000 inhabitants, PostNL collection boxes must be available for everyone within a 1-kilometer radius. Outside of such residential areas, collection boxes should be available for everyone within a 2.5-kilometer radius. Henk Don, Member of the Board of ACM, explains: “PostNL must ensure that its services are available for everyone in the Netherlands. The Dutch Postal Act and underlying regulations contain clear conditions stipulating these requirements.”

PostNL must provide a basic set of postal services

PostNL is the only postal company in the Netherlands that is responsible for a basic set of postal services. For example, PostNL is required to deliver and collect mail five days a week in the entire country. In addition, there must be a sufficient number of post offices. ACM sees to it that PostNL provides this basic set of postal services in the correct manner, and that it complies with all statutory requirements.

On consumer information portal ConsuWijzer.nl (in Dutch), consumers can find information about the delivery of post and about the requirements set out for collection boxes and post offices.