Belgian postal operator bpost has been fined €37.4 million by the Belgian Competition Authorityfor abusing its dominant position in the country’s postal market regarding discounts for large
customers.The authority explained in an official statement that the Belgian postal operator implemented asystem of discounts granted to major customers (especially banks or companies engaged in distanceselling) and distributors as part of agreements treating them in a different way. Some of thevolume discounts could reach 50% of the basic tariff. The system was implemented between January2010 and July 2011.
The authority’s decision concerns the quantity-oriented price model ‘by shipper’ that didn’tallow the distributors to consolidate mail from their customers to take advantage of the discountsbased on volumes unless they identified the shippers for which they had collected the mail. Inother words, to obtain the same discounts as the large customers who worked directly with bpost,the distributors were forced to disclose their customers with price reductions granted onlyretroactively.
The authority said it had come to the conclusion that the different treatment of major customersand the distributors raised a competition issue on the Belgian postal market where bpost occupies avery important position. The system could prevent distribution companies from offering attractivetariffs to big customers.
In the recently liberalised market, distributors are among the few competitive aspectspressuring bpost, the body stated. The system of considerable discounts could not only affect thiscategory of companies but also have loyalty-inducing effects with large customers having littleincentive to work with distributors in view of the discounts granted by bpost. “Access to majorcustomers is indeed important for every company planning to expand in mail delivery in Belgium,”the authority stated.
In July 2011, the Belgian Institute of Postal Services and Telecommunications (IBPT) alreadystated the incompatibility of this system with the postal legislation. Following IBPT’s decision,bpost ended the system which has now been judged as abusive by the Belgian competitionauthority.
In response, bpost said it is considering the possibility of appealing against the decision butstressed that it is able to pay the fine which will have no impact on the projects underway orplanned.
Bpost added that it believes that the decision and the arguments of the competition authorityare unfounded in economic and legal terms. It referred to its European competitors such as FrenchLa Poste and a dozen other postal operators who can continue to calculate their reductionsaccording to a similar model.
In addition, bpost stressed that this model provides economic benefits for the entire postalsector including the distributors and large shippers. “Granting discounts depending on the volumesof the shipper in fact stimulates the whole postal industry that lives from written communication,”the postal operator stated.
Moreover, bpost noted that it no longer applies the tariff model as it was abolished after theIBPT ruling in July 2011. “Since then, the consolidation of volumes from several customers ispossible. Bpost also meets the new transparency requirements agreed with IBPT,” the companyadded.
