What does the obligation to provide universal services mean?
In accordance with its licence and the Postal Services Act, Itella ensures the availability of letter and parcel services included in universal service. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) encompasses the whole of Finland, excluding the Åland Islands. The performance of these universal services is monitored by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
Contents of the universal service
Chapter 2, Section 4
(1) A universal service of postal services shall be available throughout the country
including
1) a transmission service for items of correspondence up to two kilos and for
postal packages up to ten kilos addressed to the addressee;
2) in the case of items arriving in the country, a conveyance and distribution
service for items up to thirty kilos; as well as
3) a service for registered items and insured items.
(2) A universal service provider shall maintain at least one facility providing universal service in each municipality. When arranging the availability of postal services, a postal undertaking shall take into account the population of the municipality, its surface area, the communication needs evident in the municipality and other local circumstances as well as the development of new forms of postal services.
(3) The users of postal services shall have the possibility to deposit items of
correspondence covered by the universal service in a clearance point located within a reasonable distance from their homes to be conveyed by a postal undertaking. The universal service shall include at least one clearance and one distribution every working day.
(4) The universal service shall cover both national and cross-border services referred to in this section.
Read more about the Postal Services Act
The Universal Service Obligation also defines the following principles:
- The prices charged for universal services must be reasonable and just.
- The secrecy of correspondence must be ensured during the processing of items.
- In bilingual municipalities, customers must receive postal services in their own language (in Finnish or Swedish).
The deliveries of newspapers and magazines or unaddressed direct marketing are not regulated by legislation; the level of service is defined by the sender companies.
