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Taking into consideration that after the lifting of the emergency status declared in Latvia, from the 10th of June the provision of a number of Latvijas Pasts services is returning to normal, while keeping restrictions for part of the services and continuing to comply with epidemiological safety requirements and recommendations, Latvijas Pasts has compiled frequently asked questions and answers relating to changes in the operations of Latvijas Pasts after the emergency situation is lifted. Regarding other matters Latvijas Pasts asks you to contact the company’s Customer Centre on +371 27008001, +371 67008001 or info@pasts.lv.
Q. Is it possible to send postal items in Latvia and abroad through Latvijas Pasts?
A. International passenger traffic between most countries is still suspended or restricted as a result of the measures taken worldwide to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, which has led to significant restrictions and delays in the exchange of postal items with foreign countries. This is linked to the fact that most international items are delivered by passenger aircraft, which currently have insufficient capacity for postal items, so any other modes of delivery are being sought, including by land, water and rail.
Deliveries are also delayed due to congestion of items and queues at international transit airports, from where they are forwarded to other recipient countries. In addition, delivery conditions that prevent items from reaching recipients on time may be present in each individual country. For these reasons any timelines and quality standards for delivery of postal items have now been suspended at international level and are not in effect.
Latvijas Pasts currently provides deliveries to practically all countries of the world, so items to be sent abroad are accepted at post offices. It must be taken into account, however, that route planning takes longer: items that cannot be dispatched immediately are stored in the sorting centre of Latvijas Pasts and sent as soon as it becomes possible.
Q. Is it possible to send and receive Eksprespasts (Express Mail) items?
A. International items are currently delivered to all in-demand destinations. Delivery-related issues are actively addressed, looking for alternative routes and transportation options if necessary. We encourage you to follow the social network accounts of Eksprespasts and Latvijas Pasts, where information on all current developments is posted promptly.
Due to the circumstances caused by COVID-19 and the need to use alternative routes, transportation costs to Russia have now increased substantially, so Eksprespasts items to that country are subject to an additional tariff, which will be abolished when the delivery conditions change.
Q. May I receive postal services if my identity document has expired?
A. If an identity document issued in the Republic of Latvia expired 30 days before or during the emergency situation, i.e. from the 11th of February to the 9th of June 2020, the given document is considered valid for another two months after the lifting of the emergency situation, i.e. until the 9th of August 2020. If the validity period expired before the 11th of February, the document is not valid.
Q. How can I find out the opening hours of my post office?
A. After the termination of the emergency situation most post offices continue to operate from Monday to Friday in accordance with the opening hours set during the emergency situation, with the exception of post offices in shopping centres, which have resumed their operations on Saturdays and Sundays.
All current information on the operations of post offices is available under the section Find a Post Office of the website of Latvijas Pasts www.pasts.lv, and you can also receive this information by contacting the Customer Centre of Latvijas Pasts on +371 27008001, +371 67008001 or info@pasts.lv.
Q. How will the small postal service outlets that provided on-demand services to customers during the emergency situation work after the emergency status is lifted?
A. Most small postal service outlets in rural areas, where postal services during the emergency situation are provided on demand, will continue to operate in this mode also after the 9th of June, evaluating the demand for postal services and the feedback from customers and postal employees and also continuing to comply with epidemiological safety requirements and recommendations.
This procedure is in force only at small postal service outlets in rural areas, which are located in the premises of the local governments and which worked only for one hour per day due to the low demand for postal services prior to the onset of the emergency situation.
Residents of these areas can request the receipt of postal services at their place of residence by applying over the phone. A detailed list of these postal service outlets and the phone numbers for requesting postal services is available here.
The postman at the customer’s place of residence provides all postal services that were available on the spot at the post office: dispatch and receipt of postal items, purchase of stamps and envelopes, delivery of items, press subscriptions, receipt of money orders and pensions, payment of utility bills and other bills, payments into the Postal Settlement System account, etc.
Q. My postal item has arrived at the post office, but I can’t or don’t want to visit the post office right now. What are the alternatives to receiving my item?
A. In order to avoid spending more time than necessary at a post office, Latvijas Pasts encourages you to make use of the company’s mobile application, which allows you to apply for the service remotely and show up at the post office just in time for receiving your service. You can apply for services remotely in 86 largest and busiest post offices throughout Latvia; the list of these post offices is available here.
As an alternative to receiving registered items at post offices, Latvijas Pasts recommends redirecting these items to any of the Latvijas Pasts parcel lockers throughout the country, using the company’s mobile app. Latvijas Pasts provides customers with the opportunity to remotely redirect any traceable, registered or insured postal item via the mobile app to any of the company’s 61 parcel lockers across Latvia.
Latvijas Pasts asks the customers who use the company’s parcel lockers to collect their items in a timely manner so that they do not accumulate and so that other customers can also receive their items at the parcel lockers.
Q. For how long are postal items stored at the post office?
A. The 60-day period of storing items at post offices free of charge will no longer be in effect as of the 10th of June: after resumption of the regular procedure the free storage period of small packets and parcels at post offices will be 10 days, but the total storage time will be 30 days; in turn, letters will be stored at post offices free of charge for 30 days.
Q. Will international postal items continue to be quarantined in the sorting centre for 72 hours before processing after the emergency situation is lifted?
From the 10th of June international postal items are handed over for immediate processing without quarantine upon receipt at Latvijas Pasts.
Q. Will the procedure where the addressee does not sign for the receipt of a registered item, but the fact of delivery is recorded by the postman or courier still be in force after the emergency situation is lifted?
A. As the emergency status is lifted, when issuing registered items to customers postmen and couriers will no longer record the fact of delivery of the item on the mobile smart device themselves, but the customer will sign for the receipt of the item as before.
Q. Does Latvijas Pasts continue to deliver pensions, benefits or allowances at the recipient’s place of residence?
A. Latvijas Pasts provides the delivery of pensions, benefits and allowances at the recipients’ places of residence in accordance with the current procedure – no changes are planned in the provision of this service.
Q. Is it obligatory to visit a post office in order to receive a pension from the Postal Payments System (PNS) after the emergency situation is lifted?
A. Customers who receive their pensions and benefits from the PNS do not necessarily have to go to the post office to receive the money. The most convenient way to get a pension at home through a postman is to apply for this service at the State Social Insurance Agency (VSAA). This service will cost the VSAA customer 2.39 euro.
An application to VSAA regarding a change of the payment address, deciding on further delivery of the pension at the place of residence, can be submitted electronically via the portal Latvija.lv, selecting the e-service Iesniegums iestādei (Application to authority) and expressing one’s wish in a free form. The application can also be sent by post or delivered to any VSAA customer service centre, except at 1 Talejas Street, Riga, and dropped in a specially placed box for applications. Further information on the delivery of pensions at the place of residence is available here.
An alternative is a pay-out from the PNS account at the place of residence, which is a more expensive service. A pay-out from the PNS account can be applied for at the Customer Centre of Latvijas Pasts on +371 27008001, +371 67008001 or info@pasts.lv.
Q. Will post offices hold the first day stamp cancellation events?
A. After the emergency status is lifted, the first day cancellation of newly issued stamps will not be resumed at the post offices in order to avoid crowding, and those interested in new philatelic releases will have the opportunity to cancel postage stamps on an individual basis contacting the Stamp and Philately Department of Latvijas Pasts by writing to the e-mail address: filatelija@pasts.lv.
Q. Will post office employees, postmen and couriers continue to take security measures?
A. Evaluating the necessary security measures, all post office counters providing customer service will continue to be equipped with protective glass barriers that minimise contact between the post office employee and the visitor. The equipment of post offices and other structural units will be disinfected as before, and the employees will continue to observe personal safety measures, such as using disinfectants, as well as face shields or masks and gloves in case of direct contact with the customer. Customers at the post offices must still maintain a distance of two metres, and it is recommended that as many people as there are service cash register systems stay at the post office at the same time.
Q. Is it possible to spread the COVID-19 coronavirus through postal items?
A. In accordance with the information received by Latvijas Pasts from the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the likelihood of infection from postal items is low and there are no restrictions on postal items, nor has there been any international indication that such a risk exists. Therefore, like all residents of the country, it is important that postal employees do not show up sick to work, and Latvijas Pasts monitors this to the maximum, ensuring that the company’s employees do not come to work if they are sick.
At the same time, the need to disinfect each item – a letter or a printed publication – should definitely be considered by each end recipient, along with maintaining individual hygiene and washing and disinfecting hands. The addressee’s letter-boxes should also be disinfected, just as Latvijas Pasts disinfects its parcel lockers. It should be noted that a printed publication is first printed in a printing house, sorted at a service facility outside Latvijas Pasts and only then delivered for further distribution.
Q. During the emergency period from the 30th of March to the 17th of April 2020 I processed an international postal item with an additional transportation cost surcharge. What should I do to get the overpaid amount* back?
A. The surcharge for additional transportation costs during the COVID-19 crisis is no longer applied to items sent to certain countries, as Latvijas Pasts has found alternative solutions.
To recover the surcharge paid for additional transportation costs of items, please submit a free-form written application for a refund of the overpaid amount, accompanied by a copy of the receipt and information including the sender’s contact information and bank account number. The application may be submitted in person at any of the post offices or sent electronically to the e-mail address: kvdinfo@pasts.lv. If necessary, information on several items may be included in one application.
* Repayment of additional transportation costs does not apply to Eksprespasts items