07 May 2012
07.05.2012
ANCOM has submitted to public consultation a draft Regulatory Strategy for Postal Services for the 2012-2016 timeframe, identifying as streamlines the promotion of the postal service users’ interests, the ensuring of the right of access to universal service, the promotion of competition in the postal service sector, the fostering of investments and innovation.
These streamlines were set as a result of an analysis of the Romanian postal market trends and in consideration of the need to constantly monitor and continuously promote the objectives incumbent on ANCOM pursuant to the normative acts in force.
In the context of the full liberalisation of the postal market as of 1 January 2013, ANCOM will study and assess the opportunity to modify the set of services within the scope of universal service, will establish the new conditions for the provision of postal services within the scope of universal service and will monitor their compliance, will set the modality of calculation of the net cost in view of its compensation, and will identify and define the universal service financing mechanisms, ultimately aiming to open the access of other operators from the postal service market to the types of services reserved to the universal service provider until 31 December 2012.
The analysis of the statistics on the complaints received by the postal service providers indicate the existence of certain problems related to the quality of service and the observance of users’ rights, caused inclusively by the fact that the users are poorly informed. In order to protect the users, ANCOM will focus on enhancing the quality and safety of postal services and the efficiency of the universal service provider, by intensifying its monitoring and control activity. As for the provision of services within the scope of universal service, the Framework-contract for the provision of services within the scope of universal service, as well as the rules applicable to the provision of these services will be analysed and updated, if necessary. Furthermore, ANCOM aims at ensuring that the disabled users are better informed on the facilities the providers are obliged to make available for them and intends to take measures in order to increase the level of public awareness in relation to the general conditions for the provision of postal services.
Considering the technological evolution we witnessed in the last years and the increased use of Internet-based integrated solutions in the postal field, ANCOM deems opportune to stimulate the investments in new technologies and to promote innovation in the postal sector, with a view to offering access to various services, at affordable tariffs, to the users from Romania. In this regard, ANCOM intends to analyse the need to define the service dealing with hybrid mail items as a distinct postal service. The hybrid mail items are items presented in a physical or electronic form by the sender (electronic mail, SMS, fax etc.), electronically processed by the service provider (decompressed, decrypted, archived etc.) and transmitted mainly electronically to the points in the provider’s network located as close as possible to the final delivery addresses, wherefrom the items are delivered in physical form to the addressee. The analysis of this service category will mean to establish the extent to which these services are used, as well as their influence on the evolution of the postal market.
The fulfilment of the strategic objectives will be monitored with the help of certain parameters such as the number of complaints received in connection to the quality and safety of the postal services provided by the universal service provider, the number of complaints resolved with the granting of repairs for the services provided by the universal service provider, the share of complaints within the volume of postal items processed by the providers concerned (items of correspondence, parcels etc.), the level of awareness of the tariffs and the availability of the information on the tariffs’ actual level, the number of universal service providers designated after the market full liberalisation, the dynamics of the tariffs charged by the main providers of services within the scope of universal service for the types of services reserved to the universal service provider until 31 December 2012, the level of quality of the services offered by the designated universal service providers, the number of items sent by means of the electronic technologies and Internet platforms or the rate of launching new postal products and services.
The draft regulatory strategy for postal services for the 2012-2016 timeframe is available for consultation here. The interested persons are invited to send their comments and suggestions, by 08.06.2012, to the ANCOM headquarters in 2 Delea Noua Street, Bucharest 3, directly to the ANCOM Registry Office or to the ANCOM regional divisions. Comments may also be sent by fax to +40 372 845 402 or by e-mail to consultare@ancom.org.ro.