OSLO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Norway Post said Thursday it has agreed to the government's proposal on mailing frequency that will make it deliver post every second day from 2020 and only twice a week from 2022.
According to Norway Post's response to the government's proposal on amendments to the Postal Act, 95 percent of what is currently in people's mailboxes can be digitized, online newspaper Nettavisen reported.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications sent the proposal for consultation in January, saying that digitization leads to a dramatic development in the postal market with a steadily falling letter volume. The consultation deadline is due on Friday.
The distribution frequency of mails in Norway is currently five days a week, from Monday to Friday. If new rules are passed, the mail delivery will decrease from five to three days a week from 2020. From 2022, it would be cut to just two days a week.
The proposed new rules will imply 1,500 redundant man-hours and change work assignments for around 2,600 employees, Norway Post said.
"If the state wants to maintain postal delivery five days a week, expenses will grow for each year. By 2025, the state will have to pay one billion kroner (128 million U.S. dollars) for unprofitable but mandatory delivering by postal service," Norway Post wrote.
According to Tone Wille, CEO of Norway Post, there is a dramatic development that influences the company's financial sustainability.
"The Post is to provide the services that you and I actually need, without burdening the community. This means post-distribution every other day and eventually one day a week," Wille was quoted as saying.
