28.11.2019

ANCOM launches for public consultation the draft decision on designating the National Company Romanian Post (CNPR) as a universal service provider in the postal field for the 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2024, in view of the provision of all the services within the scope of universal service, across the country.

Procedure on the designation of the universal service provider

According to the legal provisions in force, ANCOM has the obligation to designate, by 31 December 2019, one or several universal service providers to ensure the nationwide provision of the services included in the scope of universal service.

Consequently, ANCOM published a notice on the intention to designate a universal service provider (USP) for the provision of all the services within the scope of universal service. By the deadline set for the submission of designation applications, namely 06 November 2019, only one designation request was registered, from CNPR. The analysis of the documentation submitted by CNPR resulted in the ANCOM proposal for the designation of CNPR as a USP, under the conditions laid down by the legislation in force in the postal field.

USP’s rights and obligations

As a universal service provider, CNPR will have, among others, the right to act in the international relations and conclude operational agreements, to use the specific international forms, as well as to charge special tariffs from all the users and integrators under transparent and non-discriminatory conditions, concerning both the tariffs themselves and the related conditions.

In view of ensuring the users’ access to the services within the scope of universal service, CNPR will have, inter alia, the obligation to ensure, in every locality from Romania, at least one clearance from each access point and at least one delivery to each indicated address, every working day, at least 5 days a week, except for the localities characterised by exceptional geographic conditions where the delivery frequency set by ANCOM is lower.

As well, the tariffs charged by CNPR for the provision of the postal services within the scope of universal service must be affordable, uniform, transparent, non-discriminatory and cost-oriented, pursuing the economic efficiency, the ensuring of the right of access to the universal service and the development of the public postal network.

Services included in the scope of universal service

Access to the universal service is the right of every citizen to benefit from the uninterrupted provision of the postal services within the scope of universal service, at affordable prices for all users and at a certain quality level, in any location on the territory of Romania.

The services within the scope of universal service are: clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of domestic and cross-border postal items consisting of items of correspondence, printed matter and small parcels, weighing up to (including) 2 kg; clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of domestic and cross-border postal parcels up to (including) 10 kg; distribution of postal parcels between 10 kg and (including) 20 kg, sent from abroad to an address on the Romanian territory; the service for registered items; the service for insured items; clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of domestic and cross-border cecogrammes, and the distribution of coupons for the payment of social protection rights and of the information documents issued by the National House of Public Pensions to the beneficiaries’ homes, if they opted for payment to their debit account or to their card account, irrespective of the number of items making the object of this service. The bulk mail, as defined by the legislation in the postal field, is not included in the universal service scope.

Public consultation procedure

The draft Decision on the designation of the National Company Romanian Post as a universal service provider in the postal field is available for consultation (in Romanian) here. To ensure the continuity of the provision of services within the scope of universal service after 31 December 2019, date on which the capacity of CNPR as a universal service provider expires, it is imperative to urgently adopt this draft decision, and therefore the consultation period is 10 days. Thus, the interested persons are invited to send their comments and suggestions, by 09.12.2019, to the ANCOM headquarters in 2 Delea Noua Street, Bucharest 3, or directly to the ANCOM Registry Office or to the Authority’s regional divisions. Comments may also be sent by fax to +40 372 845 402 or by e-mail to consultare@ancom.org.ro.

Additional information

This September, following a public consultation procedure, ANCOM adopted a new procedure on the designation of the universal service provider. According to this normative act, any provider of postal services may be designated as a universal service provider if it is authorised to provide the services within the scope of universal service and requests the designation through a request submitted to ANCOM.

Comprehensive information on the designation procedure is available here.