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Cologne (dpa) - The increase in the letter postage of Deutsche Post in 2019 is unlawful from the point of view of the Cologne administrative court.
The Postal Act did not provide a basis for the type of calculation at that time, the Cologne administrative court decided in an urgent procedure and announced this on Tuesday.
Nothing changes for consumers, postage remains the same for them.
However, it becomes clear that the next postage increase planned for 2022 will have to be calculated differently than before.
In which direction it then goes is a matter for the legislature.
The defendant was the Federal Network Agency, which, as the executive body of the federal government, had redefined the price corridor for postage.
A spokesman for the Bonn authority said that the decision and its consequences would be examined.
The court's decision only concerns the so-called urgent procedure, the main proceedings are still pending - but it is very unlikely that the judges will change their mind.
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The association of postal competitors Biek (Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics) had sued.
His main concern is to increase the pressure with a view to reforming the postal law and to prevent further favoring of the ex-state monopoly.
The Biek complains that the Bonn-based group is cross-subsidizing its parcel sector through the state-controlled letter postage and thus making business difficult for competitors.
Already in spring 2020, the Biek was right before the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig with regard to the postage valid from 2016 to 2019, now the association has booked the next success in court with regard to the currently valid letter postage.
The Biek chairman Marten Bosselmann was satisfied: "This is a great success for the competition, for our member companies and the association."
The federal government must act now and "create a sensible and competitive postal law," said Bosselmann.
"This would also be for the benefit of the end user."
The decision is a setback for Deutsche Post.
In 2019, it benefited from a regulation change introduced by the Federal Ministry of Economics and was able to increase the postage for a standard letter from 70 to 80 cents.
A Post spokesman emphasized on Tuesday that the network agency's current fee approval remains valid.
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The economic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Reinhard Houben, assessed the court decision as a "slap in the face" for the Federal Ministry of Economics, headed by Peter Altmaier (CDU), which paved the way for the postage increase in 2019. "The consumer is at the end of the stupid because he has to pay more than would actually be legal, ”says Houben.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210105-99-909785 / 2