PostNL announces new postal rates for 2016

PostNL has announced new postal rates that will apply from 1 January 2016. The new rates – which have been approved by the Dutch supervisory authority for the postal market, the Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM) – are:

• basic rate for letters in the Netherlands: € 0.73
• basic rate for international letters: € 1.25
• basic rate franking machines for letters in the Netherlands: € 0.65.

The business rates will also increase.

The basic rate for sending a parcel will not change.

In explaining the need for the new rates, PostNL said: “As a result of the continuing switch to e-mail, social media and other digital means of communication, postal volumes continue to decline. To a large extent, PostNL compensates for this effect through cost savings; however, tariff increases are necessary to offer reliable and accessible postal services in the Netherlands in the future.”