Deutsche Post to raise domestic letter rate to cope with rising labour costs
Deutsche Post DHL is set to raise basic price of domestic letters in Germany for the third year in a row, subject to regulatory approval. From 1 January 2015, the standard domestic letter up to 20g in weight will rise 2 cents (3.3%) to EUR 0.62.
International delivery of standard letters and postcards will se a five cent (6.6%) increase to EUR 0.80.
The rate for advertising or bulk mailings in the Infopost Gross format will rise by three cents (8.3%) to EUR 0.39 per item. Other Infopost formats will remain unchanged, but the simplified addressing product Postwurfspezial, which is advertising mail sent to a certain delivery area rather than specific individual names, will see rates increase by 10%.
The price of sending a compact letter (Kompaktbrief) of up to 50g will be reduced by five cents to EUR 0.85.
Deutsche Post said delivery rates for larger letters — Grossbrief and Maxibrief — and domestic postcards will remain unchanged, while rates for some special services, like registered mail or payment on delivery will also stay the same.
Rates for other special services like book shipments, press distribution and kilo-rate items will change.
Regulator
The German universal service provider said some of the price changes need to be approved by the country’s Federal Network Agency to ensure they meet the company’s price cap requirements. The price changes were filed with the regulator today, and should receive a decision within 14 days.
The pricing proposal will be the second year in a row that Deutsche Post will have raised the price of a standard domestic letter by two cents or 3.3%. Last year the rate was increased to EUR 0.60. The year before that saw a five-cent or 5% increase in the standard domestic letter rate, which was the first time in 15 years that Deutsche Post increased its standard letter price.
Deutsche Post said the increase being implemented in the advertising/bulk mail service will be the first time it has been increased in 18 years. The increase to the Postwurfspezial rate is the first time it will increase in a decade.
This year, the privatised German postal giant said it needed the price increase to cope with the “steep” increase in its labour costs.
The price increase also comes as the company invests “hundreds of millions” in its infrastructure in order to maintain quality of service levels.
Deutsche Post said that compared to other European postal services, its letter prices would remain below average.
New 62-cent stamps will go on sale in Germany in December. Old 60-cent stamps can still be used in 2015, along with supplemental two-cent stamps.
