After the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets fined Dutch postal service PostNL for charging private postal companies extra for using the national postal service’s network, the postal service has said that in providing its services at cost to the other companies it could lose between €30-€50 million annually.
The ACM ordered PostNL to charge private postal companies the same rates as it charges its own customers for using its network on the 15th September, saying it had over charged the private carriers. Straaten Post and IntraMail had filed complaints, and the ACM found in their favour, stating PostNL has violated the Dutch Postal Act.
In response, PostNL have stated that this could impact the way it delivers mail across the country, suggesting that this could force up the cost of posting mail and parcels across the Netherlands.
The postal service also suggested that this decision by the ACM will encourage competition with its service and threaten the very existence of the Dutch national postal service. They are in ongoing discussions with the ACM to try to ensure a fairer outcome for all parties involved.