OREANDA-NEWS. Bundesnetzagentur (the German network agency), the government authority responsible for regulating mail prices in Germany, today approved price rate adjustments starting January 1, 2016, that had been requested by Deutsche Post. As announced several weeks ago, the price for a standard letter weighing up to 20g will be raised to EUR0.70 and then remain unchanged for three years starting in 2016, such as all other letter mail products.

In addition to the price adjustment to EUR0.70 for standard letters within Germany, the price for Maxibrief national items up to 1,000g will also climb, from EUR2.40 to EUR2.60. International standard letters and postcards will cost EUR0.90 starting in 2016 instead of the former EUR0.80. The price for large international letters (Grossbrief) up to 500g will be increased from EUR3.45 to EUR3.70. Prices for other individual letter mail formats, whether national or international, will remain unchanged. The new price for transporting standard letters within Germany must also be paid by business customers but here the company will also increase the discount for downstream access for standard letters by five percentage points.

Price changes for individual letter mail formats will also be accompanied by a rise in rates for certain special services. In the future, items such as domestic or international registered mail (Einschreiben) will cost EUR2.50. Some special services - registered mail to addressee's letterbox (Einschreiben Einwurf), delivery to addressee only (Eigenhändig) and/or with advice on delivery (Rückschein) - will each cost EUR2.15.