NMa rejects Sandd’s complaint: no abuse by PostNL

After carrying out an investigation on objection, the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has again concluded that it has not been established that postal service company PostNL (former TNT Post) abused its position on the Dutch postal service market. The objections that rival company Sandd filed against the NMa’s 2009 decision have thus been rejected. A violation of the Dutch Competition Act has therefore not been established. Sandd had claimed that competition was being distorted because of, among other reasons, PostNL’s subsidiary Netwerk VSP’s alleged ‘free’ use of its parent’s network. The NMa has found no evidence that PostNL’s network was used at prices below cost price. In addition, the current market situation is different from the one in 2009, since Netwerk VSP no longer delivers addressed mail.

At the same time, the NMa notes a level playing field in the Dutch postal market may be lacking. As a former government monopolist, PostNL managed to build a vast network, allowing it to deliver mail at very low costs. PostNL must maintain this network, because it is statutorily required to deliver mail six days a week. The lack of a level playing field, however, is not something the NMa can take action against under the Dutch Competition Act. The Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation is currently looking into introducing additional regulatory legislation that is aimed at tackling potential obstacles to effective competition on the postal market. The NMa already identified problems on the postal market in its previous decision. The market situation has not changed since. Chris Fonteijn, Chairman of the Board of the NMa, adds: ‘If the regulator, which is currently OPTA, and soon the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), is given additional powers to regulate the postal market, it will be able to develop a customized approach, which would make it easier to deal with market problems more effectively.’