UOHS against Ceska posta’s monopoly on direct mail

The Czech anti-monopoly office UOHS said today it was against the current efforts at reintroducing state- run postal services operator Ceska posta’s monopoly on delivering direct mail.

The service is also provided by Mediaservis, which has less than a 10 per cent share on the Czech market.

“Remonopolisation means a restriction of the emerging competitive environment and runs counter to the main objectives of competition protection,” UOHS chairman Josef Bednar told CTK.

He added Ceska posta is a near-monopoly provider of direct mail, and that competition should secure prices and quality acceptable for consumers.

“Customers thus will not pay more than necessary for this service,” Bednar said.

Daily Mlada fronta Dnes wrote on Saturday that an amendment to the law on postal service is now waiting for its final debate in the Chamber of Deputies.

The IT ministry is not in favour of direct mailing being made part of Ceska posta’s monopoly, the ministry’s spokeswoman Klara Volna said, adding, however, that the decision is now up to parliament and not the UOHS.

Bednar says the range of services provided exclusively by Ceska posta at present should not be widened. This stance is in line with the European Union, which regards the Czech direct mailing market as open to all businesses.

Ceska posta spokesman Ladislav Vancura said in the press that the company was not against market liberalisation but feared that competition would only enter lucrative locations, that is, large towns.

The Czech legislation currently in force does not clearly specify whether or not the service is part of Ceska posta’s monopoly, which enabled Mediaservis to enter the market.