ANCOM Fined CARGO SERV POST for Breaching the Reserved Rights of CNPR

10.04.2012

ANCOM applied a RON 5,000 fine to S.C. CARGO SERV POST S.R.L. for having charged a tariff of RON 1 per item for the clearance, sorting, transport and delivery in Giurgiu of the items of correspondence weighing between 0 and 50 g. CARGO SERV POST thus breached the legal provisions in the field of postal services which give the universal service provider the exclusive right to clear, sort, transport and deliver items of correspondence weighing between 0 and 50 g at a tariff below RON 2 per item.

In Romania, the universal service provideris the National Company Romanian Post (CNPR), which gained this right following a designation procedure held by ANCOM in 2009.

CNPR benefits from the exclusive right to provide certain postal services since, in its capacity of universal service provider, it has the obligation to cover with postal services the entire national territory in order to enable each inhabitant to have access to postal services, regardless of the locality where she/he lives. Hence, the universal service providerhas the obligation to provide services throughout Romania, at the same tariffs, including in the hard accessible or low density geographic areas, where the correspondence volume is low and therefore the activity is not profitable. CNPR has the obligation to make available for the users at least one postal box and at least one contact point in each locality from Romania.

Any authorised postal service provider is allowed to provide services within the scope of universal service under the condition they comply with the rights reserved to CNPR in terms of weighing and tariff limits, including when they grant tariff discounts to the sender. The conclusion and execution of a contract under which the price per item is below RON 2 for items of correspondence weighing between 0 and 50 g is a contravention.

“ANCOM is monitoring the observance of the users’ right to benefit from the postal services within the scope of universal service, by verifying the extent to which both CNPR and the private providers comply with their due obligations. We make investigations upon receiving any complaint concerning the possible breach of the rights reserved to CNPR and we will continue to enforce sanctions anytime we find that these complaints are grounded. The fines we have given thus far took into account that the sanctioned providers were at their first breach; nonetheless, much higher fines, which can amount to RON 60,000, may be enforced to the providers registering a turnover below RON 3 million. The providers registering a turnover which exceeds RON 3 million may be enforced fines accounting for up to 2% of the turnover and, respectively, up to 5% of the turnover, in case of repeated breaches. ANCOM may also decide to withdraw the right to provide postal services, where the seriousness of the deed justifies such decision”, the Director of the Monitoring and Control Executive Division within ANCOM, Mr. Cristin Popa, said.

Until now, ANCOM has applied 5 fines to the providers which breached the reserved right of CNPR and these are: S.C. TCE POST S.R.L., S.C. ASSOCIATED GROUP COMMUNICATIONS S.R.L., S.C. TOTAL POST SERVICES S.R.L. and S.C. DIRECT POST SERVICES S.R.L.