TPG intends to maintain consumer stamp price at 39 cents until 2007

The Minister of Economic Affairs has informed TPG that he has granted TPG’s appeal to the temporary tariff freeze. The Minister said that there is no sufficient legal basis for the tariff freeze decided in the Postal Law. This sets aside the administrative decision, which stipulated that the individual rates for mandatory postal services covered by the price control system in force at the time, could not be increased until 1 January 2005. The Minister proposed in his Postal Vision sent to Parliament on 1 April 2004 (due for parliamentary discussion on 28 June 2004) that the temporary tariff freeze will be extended until year-end 2006.

TPG logded an appeal to the administrative decision on 17 November 2003. Part of the motivation to file the appeal was the fact that the temporary tariff
freeze was based on an isolated price measure at that time outside the
context of an integral vision regarding the development of the postal market in
the Netherlands. Parliament had also requested an integral vision on the
postal market. The Minister of Economic Affairs has sent his vision on the
postal market in the Netherlands to Parliament of 1 April 2004. He has
outlined his overall vision on liberalisation of the Dutch postal market and
among other things, this vision addresses issues like prices, universal service, accessibility and supervision of the postal market.

In view of the wider importance of the adoption of an integral and balanced
vision for the postal market, as has been submitted to Parliament, TPG has
announced its intention not to increase the price of a stamp for consumers
from the present level of 39 euro cents for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006.
TPG considers a minor amendment to prices for mandatory postal services to
business customers, that are covered by the price control system, in 2006,
but this will be kept below the rate of wage inflation for 2004 and 2005.