German cartel office slams regulator approval of Deutsche Post rates

The German cartel office said that regulators’ lenient calculations allow Deutsche Post World Net AG to keep its postal rates unchanged, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported, quoting a spokeswoman of the office.

The Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s regulatory authority for postal services, yesterday said it will continue to base its calculations for postal rate approval on the difference between productivity gains and inflation rates.

The regulator sees productivity increasing at a rate of 1.8 pct a year.

The cartel office argued a productivity factor of 1.8 pct is too low, adding Deutsche Post is reducing its costs at a faster pace, according to the newspaper.

It also criticized Deutsche Post’s social payments and wage levels as being unusual in the industry, and urged regulators to include in their calculations foreign postal markets, some of which have significantly lower postal rates.