The German regulator Federal Network Agency has officially accused First Mail, a Deutsche Postunit serving mainly corporate customers, of charging less than it needs to cover its costs,
breaching regulations and making it difficult for rivals to compete.During the proceedings against First Mail and Deutsche Post AG, in consultation with the FederalCartel Office, the agency discovered violations of pay scales and the non-discrimination rule underthe German Postal Act and urged Deutsche Post to settle the issue by 31 August at the latest.
Matthias Kurth, the president of the Federal Network Agency, explained: “According to ourinvestigations, the cost under-recovery of First Mail might affect the competitive opportunities ofother companies, which is unacceptable. Even though Deutsche Post predicted cost-recovery for FirstMail from 2011 onwards, we couldn’t follow up on it according to the applied standards.”
The agency has taken action due to preliminary investigations that started some time ago, inaddition to a complaint from a competitor.
In response to this accusation, a Deutsche Post spokesman said the regulator’s statement was “incomprehensible”, adding that the company may take legal steps against the decision, the newsagency Reuters reported.
First Mail offers discounted services to customers sending off at least 50 postcards or lettersat once in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin.
The agency’s statement came as Deutsche Post awaits permission to raise the prices customers payat its post offices, in an attempt to compensate for slumping mail volumes. The regulator has madea proposal for how these prices should be set from 2012, and mail companies have to respond by 25June. A decision on Deutsche Post’s prices for consumers is expected later this year.
The Federal Network Agency regulates the electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railwaysectors in Germany and is a separate higher federal authority within the scope of business of theGerman Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
