#PocztaPolskaLokalnie: designated by the State
For four years, Poczta Polska has been the designated operator for universal postal services. Poczta Polska was the only company in the country that had, and currently has, the infrastructure that allows it to fulfill this role – both in terms of providing universal services and other tasks related to state-operator cooperation.
It's difficult today to imagine a private company willing to invest significant resources into building a network of branches that would meet the requirements of a designated operator. This is especially true given that some of these branches have no business justification.
" EU directives very precisely define the tasks and responsibilities imposed on the designated operator. Among the most important are the provision of postal services in domestic and international traffic, including letters up to 2 kg, parcels within Poland up to 10 kg, international parcels up to 20 kg, and parcels for the blind, " says Justyna Siwek, spokesperson for Poczta Polska.
The designated operator was required to maintain a sufficiently dense network of post offices – these should be offices, branches, or agencies. There should be one permanent post office per 6,000 inhabitants in urban areas and per 85 square kilometers in rural areas. Additionally, the operator must maintain at least one post office in every commune.
" Sometimes these are unprofitable branches that, under purely business circumstances, would be closed. Each branch incurs costs related to equipment, maintenance, renovation, and modernization, as well as the cost of a customer service employee ," explains Justyna Siwek from Poczta Polska.
The post office must also provide, among other things, the collection and delivery of letters and parcels at least five days a week, ensure access to the post office for people with disabilities, cooperate with state structures in crisis situations, and organize field mail.
According to the Office of Electronic Communications in its report on the state of the postal market in 2018, Poczta Polska (Polish Post) provided 565.3 million universal services last year. Letters constituted the largest part of the universal services segment, accounting for 98.4% of the total volume.
The scale of the company and the number of employees, over 80,000 people, generate enormous costs, which the Post Office – despite fulfilling an important social role – bears itself.