Due to an increased use of digital services and platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic, Law 17/2022, of 26 April, the Portuguese Postal Services’ Law, is now amended by Decree-Law 22-A/2022, of 7 February.
ANACOM becomes responsible for supervising the universal postal service supply as well as the activities included in concession contracts relating to the designation of one or more postal service providers to cover different parts of the national territory.
ANACOM must also propose to the Portuguese Government for approval the SLA associated to the delivery of universal postal service for a minimum period of three years. Those SLA include delivery deadlines, regularity, and trustworthiness of services.
Universal postal service providers must comply with two new obligations, as they must:
- Have a measurement system for the service quality that complies with the standards applicable to the universal postal service, including intra-Community services; and
- Measure the quality of services, at least once a year, through an independent external entity, to which they must provide all the information necessary for the evaluation.
There are new rules regarding price determination of postal services that are part of the universal postal service offer. According to those rules, prices must take into consideration:
- The sustainability and financial viability of the respective provision;
- The traffic variation;
- The quality of the service provided; and
- The incentive to efficient universal postal service delivery.
These prices must be established for 3 years, under agreement between the universal postal service providers, ANACOM and the Consumers Commission (Direção Geral do Consumidor). This agreement must be notified to the Government.
It is also worth mentioning that recently CTT (Correios de Portugal) and the Government signed a new concession contract that will be the basis for the universal postal service, which will come into force after being approved by the Portuguese Court of Auditors until 31 December 2028.