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23.05.2023
As part of its efforts to adapt to the real needs of society, Latvijas Pasts is gradually changing the service provision model and replacing full-spectrum traditional post offices in sparsely populated rural regions with services that meet the actual habits of the population. It is possible to receive all postal services in remote parts of Latvia both at postal service points, which operate one hour a day based on the low demand for postal services, or through postmen who are already performing the functions of mobile post offices.
Considering the negligible demand for universal postal services in many post offices in rural regions, as well as the limited public transport times, the approach to providing postal services is gradually being changed. At the same time, residents will continue to be provided with easily accessible services offered by Latvijas Pasts: receiving and sending ordinary and registered domestic and cross-border letter-post items, such as letters, postcards, small packets and items in wrapper, as well as domestic and cross-border postal parcels, purchasing stamps, envelopes and commercial goods, subscribing to press, depositing cash to the Postal Settlement System (PSS) account, receiving cash through money transfers and paying utility bills and other bills.
“Postal services are the primary responsibility of Latvijas Pasts, and this responsibility is carried out throughout the country, regardless of the form of providing postal services – at a full-spectrum post office, at a postal service point or at the customer’s place of residence upon request. However, for more than 10 years we have been evaluating the demand for postal services and changing the postal service delivery model in accordance with the trends of the second and third decades of the 21st century, which as a result of technological progress no longer correspond to the historically established network of post offices, when society’s postal usage habits were drastically different from the current demand of the digital age. Postal services and customer preferences have changed just as telephone booths are no longer found on the street,” Kristaps Krūmiņš, Members of the Board of Latvijas Pasts, points out.
In order to understand whether the low demand can be attributed to some temporary reasons, a long-term assessment of the operation of all post offices is conducted. Practically in all cases, the analysis shows that the low demand in the regions is related to low population density and the decline in the use of postal services, which in turn is caused by demographic aspects, changing habits of the population, scientific and technical progress, and digitisation.
Any resident in populated areas where the post office’s operating model has been changed already has ample opportunities to receive the necessary postal services directly from the postman at his or her place of residence. In March 2023, Latvijas Pasts supplemented the company’s fleet with 340 new, more environmentally friendly cars, which were handed over to postmen for use in areas where the universal postal service is provided at customers’ places of residence.
In areas that do not have a full-spectrum post office, the cost of receiving the universal postal service both at the postal service point and at the customer’s place of residence is the same as the cost of receiving these services at the post office, and no additional fee is charged. The postman provides the same services at the customer’s place of residence as those available at the postal service delivery point. They include delivery, acceptance and dispatch of letter-post items and postal parcels, purchase of stamps and envelopes, subscription to press, receipt of money transfers and pensions, payment of utility bills and other bills, cash deposits to the PSS account, purchase of commercial goods, etc. Residents can also withdraw cash from the PSS account through the postman.
It is possible to receive this service and other services available form the postman at one’s place of residence by contacting the Latvijas Pasts Customer Centre at +371 27008001 or +371 67008001 in advance.
Postal services in Latvia are currently available in various forms: depending on the number of inhabitants, the extent to which the postal services are used and consumer habits, postal services are provided at a full-spectrum traditional post office, at a postal service point or through a postman at the customer’s place of residence, according to the demand for postal services in the respective area. There are more than 600 postal service points in the country, but less than 40% are full-spectrum post offices, with most populated rural areas operating on the model of the postman on demand at the customer’s place of residence.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices and an extensive network of indoor and outdoor parcel lockers. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, parcel locker, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 2,700 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
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