Regulator shelves An Post’s €10m letterbox plan

AN POST’S €10 million plan to supply half a million roadside letterboxes for private households has been spiked by the communications regulator.

The company’s proposed radical changes to the way it delivers letters were aimed at saving €20m a year.

But the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) said there was no obligation on the consumer to accept such a proposal, nor could An Post force people to use letterboxes some distance from their homes.

While there were merits in roadside letterboxes, the regulator’s office said vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and disabled people, who depend on delivery to the front door, would have to be protected.

Commenting on An Post’s submission that the provision of roadside letterboxes would have to be mandatory in order to achieve the full benefits, ComReg chairwoman Etain Doyle said: “Widespread mandatory provision of roadside letterboxes is neither possible in legal terms, nor desirable. A sledgehammer approach to this issue will not work.”

The regulator said An Post had not explored all other alternatives. “The option of collecting mail every morning from a post office or delivery office free of charge might be attractive to some customers and would be cost-effective for An Post,” the regulator said.

Fianna Fáil TD Noel O’Flynn welcomed the regulator’s decision. The company could ill afford to squander millions of euros on a plan which could easily have foundered, he said.

An Post said it was disappointed at the rejection of its proposal. “The proposal was fundamental to our urgent need to reduce delivery costs while underpinning our delivery obligations, at a uniform price, in rural areas,” a spokesman for the company said.

The communications regulator also directed An Post to collect post no earlier than 5.30pm for next day delivery from all towns of more than 1,500 people except for 11 towns, including Bantry, Skibbereen and Dingle, where 5.30pm collection was likely to pose operational problems.