The cabinet decided this on the proposal of Minister Karremans of Economic Affairs. The main change is that from July 2026, a letter no longer needs to be delivered within 24 hours, but within 48 hours. If you send a letter on Monday, it will be delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mail will still be delivered five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. The agreement remains that 95% of the mail must be on time.

If we do not change anything, mail delivery in smaller villages and regions is at risk of deteriorating further. Another option would be for the government to financially assist PostNL, but the cabinet does not see the need to provide PostNL with government subsidies. Therefore, the cabinet chooses to adjust the delivery rules based on research from the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), just as has already happened in other European countries.

In the long term, the delivery time will likely become even more flexible. If the number of letters continues to decline, PostNL may be given a maximum of 72 hours to deliver a letter starting in 2028 or 2029, similar to Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. However, this is only allowed if the reliability of delivery improves. For condolence mail and medical mail, nothing changes. That mail will continue to be delivered within 24 hours, six days a week, just like now.

Minister Karremans: “The postal law we currently have is outdated and no longer fits the current postal market, as we are simply sending far fewer letters and cards. Therefore, we will adjust the law. This means that if you send a letter on a Wednesday, it will be delivered on Thursday or Friday. Even if you send it outside the Randstad. We are making the rules for mail delivery a bit more flexible to ensure that mail delivery continues to work throughout the Netherlands.”