Direct Marketing Association calls for lower postage for light letters

 After the publishers' association reacted to the annual report of the postal regulatory authority with a statement on Wednesday, the Swiss Direct Marketing Association (SDV) has now also spoken out. In a communiqué, it writes that the Swiss have to pay the highest postal taxes for letters weighing up to 20 grams almost anywhere in Europe. These excessive prices generate profits in the monopoly sector, which Swiss Post can use to finance its financially less successful activities in the competitive sector. In its press release, the SDV therefore poses the rhetorical question of whether the postal monopoly is equivalent to an advertising tax. Like the publishers, the Direct Marketing Association is also calling for the market for letters to be opened up as quickly as possible. The experience of neighbouring countries has shown that third parties can only penetrate this lucrative market if there is comprehensive liberalization. In the eyes of the SDV, however, the plans for market liberalization are only being pursued half-heartedly; the original deregulation timetable cannot be adhered to.
Due to this delay, the SDV is calling for the immediate introduction of a separate postage class for letters weighing up to 20 grams. This would allow almost half of all letters to be transported more cheaply, it continues. In this way, Swiss Post should pass on additional profits from the letter monopoly and savings from optimization projects to consumers.