Anacom "has decided to apply a fine of 398,750 euros to CTT for violating various obligations to which they are subject as a provider of the universal postal service, as set out in Law No. 17/2012 of 26 April (Postal Law)", the regulatory authority said in a statement.

The issue "is the failure to comply with the appropriate quality standards that should be ensured in the provision of the universal service, in particular, the violation of the objective of postal network density and minimum service offers set by Anacom's decision" of 28 August 2014.

"The issue is also the sending of information to Anacom that was found to be unreliable, regarding compliance with the objectives of postal network density and minimum service offers for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of 2016 and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2017", it added.

The regulator added that "there were also situations in which CTT was not providing updated information in its post offices regarding IQS and applicable prices".

Anacom added that there were also "situations in which the company violated both the obligation to deliver postal items included in the universal postal service and the obligation to protect the personal data and privacy of senders and recipients, by delivering such postal items to unauthorized third parties, not making any attempt to hand-deliver them to the recipients' homes when they were actually there, opting to leave collection slips, and also abandoning several postal items in the public highway".

Now, the "failure to comply with the objectives of postal network density and minimum service offers provided for by law jeopardized access to the postal service for each and every citizen, and providing incorrect information to the regulator seriously prejudices the exercise of the functions entrusted to Anacom".

The failure to provide updated information in post offices, "regarding IQS and applicable prices, may have prejudiced access to the universal postal service, by not allowing users to purchase services in this area with proper information and awareness of the costs they will incur for the provision of the service they want, nor have knowledge of its quality", Anacom continued.

"The delivery of postal items to unauthorized third parties, to the detriment of their delivery to the home of each recipient, as well as the abandonment of postal items in the public highway, not only jeopardizes the security, confidentiality and inviolability of the correspondence itself, but also enables the disclosure to third parties of personal data and the privacy of senders and recipients", Anacom explained.

In turn, "the sending of a notice to collect registered items without having made an attempt to hand-deliver them to the home address unnecessarily obliges their recipients to go to a post office, spending time and resources to do so".

The period available to CTT to challenge Anacom's decision is currently underway.

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