The quality of the universal postal service is laid down in the General Act on the Quality of the Provision of the Universal Postal Service (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 107/25) and includes ensuring:
at least one collection and one delivery of postal items a day to the home or premises of every natural or legal person, on at least five working days a week,
a sufficient number of contact points and appropriate opening hours for direct work with users of postal services,
a sufficient number of mailboxes,
appropriate transit times for postal items, and
appropriate procedures for handling complaints and objections.
Transit Times
In domestic postal services, priority and non-priority transit of items of correspondence must be ensured.
For priority items, the universal postal service provider must ensure that at least 90% of items of correspondence are transmitted within one working day (D+1), at least 95% of items of correspondence within two working days (D+2), and 99% of items of correspondence within three working days (D+3).
For non-priority items, at least 95% of items of correspondence must be transmitted within three working days (D+3) and 99% within four working days (D+4) within one month.
In postal services with the Member States of the European Union, at least 85% of items of correspondence must be transmitted within a maximum of three working days (D+3) and at least 97% of items of correspondence within five working days (D+5) within one month.
In domestic postal services, at least 80% of postal parcels must be transmitted within two working days (D+2) and at least 95% of postal parcels within three working days (D+3) within one month.
The universal service provider must ensure the measurement of the quality of transit of items of correspondence and postal parcels for each calendar year. The Agency supervises the methodology used and the measurement results once a year.
The revised results of the measurement of the quality of transit of items of correspondence in domestic postal services of Pošta Slovenije d. o. o. for 2024 are as follows:
for priority items:
96.1% of items of correspondence were transmitted within one working day from the date of posting (D+1),
99.7% of items of correspondence were transmitted within two working days from the date of posting (D+2), and
99.9% of items of correspondence were transmitted within three working days from the date of posting (D+3).
for non-priority items:
99.5% of items of correspondence were transmitted within three working days from the date of posting (D+3).
The figure showing the quality of priority transit of items of correspondence (D+1, D+2 and D+3) in the period from 2012 to 2024 shows the prescribed transit times and the extent to which they were achieved by year:
The figure shows the prescribed transit times and the extent to which they were achieved up to 2024.
The revised results of the measurement of the quality of transit of postal parcels of the universal postal service in domestic postal services of Pošta Slovenije d. o. o. for 2024 are as follows:
99.5% of postal parcels were transmitted within two working days from the date of posting (D+2),
99.99% of postal parcels were transmitted within three working days from the date of posting (D+3).
The figure showing the trend in the quality of transit of postal parcels (D+2, D+3) in the period from 2012 to 2024 indicates that Pošta Slovenije d. o. o. achieves a significantly higher quality of transit in this area than that prescribed:
Figure showing the trend in the quality of transit of postal parcels by year up to 2024.
Postal network density
A contact point is intended for direct work with users of postal services and may be organised as a post office, a contract post office or a special organisational form of contact point determined by the universal service provider. A contact point must operate in suitable premises or in an appropriate means of transport and must be equipped in such a way as to provide users of postal services with all services included in the universal postal service at the prescribed quality level. A mobile contact point stop must be at a location determined and published in advance.
The universal service provider must ensure at least one contact point, organised as a post office or contract post office, in each municipality in the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, while for 95% of the population of the Republic of Slovenia the air distance to the nearest contact point must not exceed 4.5 kilometres. Before any intended transformation or closure of a contact point, the universal postal service provider must obtain the Agency’s consent.
Opening Hours of Contact Points
Contact points must be open for direct work with users of postal services on at least five working days a week. Contact points organised as post offices or contract post offices must be open for at least two consecutive hours on each working day, including at least once a week in the afternoon after 4 p.m. All other forms of contact points must be open every working day, continuously for at least one hour, including at least once a week in the afternoon after 4 p.m.
Users covered by the contact point must be informed of any change in opening hours by means of a written notice at the entrance and through the media, at least 20 days before the change.
Mailboxes
The universal postal service provider must install one mailbox:
in every settlement with between 400 and 800 inhabitants;
one for every 800 inhabitants in settlements with between 801 and 5,000 inhabitants;
one for every 1,000 inhabitants in settlements with between 5,001 and 75,000 inhabitants;
one for every 1,500 inhabitants in settlements with more than 75,000 inhabitants.
Notwithstanding the above, the universal service provider may remove a mailbox if, on the basis of two uninterrupted 14-day counts carried out at least three months apart, it establishes that there are on average fewer than ten items a day in it. This provision does not apply to settlements in which only one mailbox is installed and no contact point is organised in the municipality.
The universal postal service provider must ensure that mailboxes are emptied at least once a day on every working day, and the time of the last collection for each working day of the week must be clearly indicated on the mailbox. If the provider intends to remove a mailbox, it must affix to it, at least 30 days in advance, a notice stating the date of removal.
Regulator's intervention
If, in the course of supervision, an inspector or an authorised person of the Agency establishes that a law, regulation or act the implementation of which it supervises has been breached, they have the right and duty to:
order measures to remedy irregularities and deficiencies within a time limit set by them,
act as a minor offences authority in accordance with the law governing minor offences and propose the initiation of minor offences proceedings,
impose a fine for a minor offence,
propose to the competent authority the adoption of measures, and
temporarily prohibit the further performance of the activity if it is not carried out in accordance with the law.
Foreign practices
The quality of postal services is an important part of the tasks of European regulatory bodies and all organisations operating in the European postal services market. The most important studies relating to quality are published on the European Commission’s website.
Studies and the results of research carried out by the regulatory bodies of individual EU Member States are available on their websites.