In the postal sector, AS Eesti Post and NOVA POST Estonia OÜ provided services requiring an activity licence in 2024. Both are authorised to deliver items of correspondence and parcels as regular, registered, insured or batch items, both as a domestic and international service.
In 2024, AS Eesti Post, operating under the Omniva brand, continued to be the only provider of periodicals home delivery in Estonia.
Since AS Eesti Post’s licence for the provision of universal postal services (UPS) expired in 2024, the Competition Authority held a public competition in accordance with the Postal Act to find a universal postal service provider. Only one bidder participated in the competition—AS Eesti Post. By the decision of the Competition Authority of 11 July 2024, AS Eesti Post was declared the winning bidder. In accordance with the operating licence, AS Eesti Post will provide universal postal services in Estonia until 8 October 2029.
The affordable price for universal postal services is determined by a regulation of the minister in charge of the policy sector and is valid throughout the country, regardless of the location of the service user. The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture is in charge of the postal sector. The current affordable prices for universal postal services came into effect on 1 May 2023.
On 13 December 2024, the Competition Authority made a proposal to the Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture to change the affordable price for universal postal services.
Currently, the cost of domestic delivery for a standard letter weighing up to 250 g (also known as regular letters) is 1.30 euros. The proposal envisages raising the affordable price for this service to 2.20 euros. According to current regulations, the delivery speed for standard letters is three business days, and the service is suitable when the speed of delivery is not decisive for the sender.
It is often confusing what ‘delivery within three business days’ means. Here it is important to note the emptying times marked on the post boxes (the orange boxes where you can drop off letters). The delivery speed is calculated from the emptying time indicated on the post box. For example, if the post box is scheduled to be emptied on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00, then if you drop the letter in the box at 7:00 on Tuesday morning, the delivery time is counted from the time the post box is emptied on Tuesday at 9:00. The third business day (ie when the letter needs to be delivered) is then Friday. However, if you put the letter in the post box on Tuesday after the specified emptying time (for example at 12 o’clock), the delivery time should be calculated from the next emptying time. In this example, the post box emptying time is Thursday at 9:00, meaning that a letter dropped into the post box at 12:00 on Tuesday would be delivered on the following Tuesday.
There is also the option to choose faster delivery within one business day (so-called priority letters). Currently, this service costs 2.30 euros for domestic delivery of a standard letter weighing up to 250 g. The Competition Authority’s proposal envisages raising the affordable price for this service to 2.60 euros.
In addition to the proposal to change the affordable price for universal postal services, the Competition Authority also made a proposal to increase the contribution rate for universal postal services.
The universal postal service contribution is a fee charged from a postal service provider with a financing obligation, which is used to compensate for unreasonably burdensome costs incurred in the provision of universal postal services. The contributions are collected in the so-called universal postal service fund, from which it is possible to make payments based on a justified request. The payment obligation is only applicable to companies operating under a licence, ie AS Eesti Post and NOVA POST Estonia OÜ.
According to the currently set rates, the contribution rate for an item of correspondence sent as a standard item is 0.08 euros, which pursuant to the Authority’s proposal should be raised to 0.19 euros. The Competition Authority proposed to apply the fee also to postal parcels in the amount of 1.15 euros per parcel.
The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture initiated a discussion at the end of 2024 regarding the amendment of the Postal Act. The Competition Authority was involved in these discussions primarily on matters related to price regulation, as a solution under consideration is one where the prices for universal postal services would not be set by the minister responsible for the sector through a regulation, but rather the prices would be coordinated by the Competition Authority, similar to other regulated sectors (electricity, gas, water).