As referred above, the Postal Law establishes that ICP - ANACOM is entitled to determine that some postal services for the use of blind and partially-sighted persons are provided free of charge [article 14, paragraph 8 c)].
This matter will be submitted to a separate analysis undertaken by ICP - ANACOM.
Without prejudice, it is stressed that:
- The Postal Directive ( Directive 97/67/EC, as amended by Directive 2008/6/EC) specifies that Member States may maintain or introduce the provision of a free postal service for the use of blind and partially-sighted persons (article 12);
- Standards of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) provide that Member States must ensure the collection, transport, sorting and delivery services for the blind, generally, free of charge;
- According to available information, concerning CTT’s development plan for the 2013-2015 period, CTT provides visually impaired clients with a specific product, the ce’cogramme (which has a maximum weight limit of 7 kg, both for national and international mail), which may be sent as i) a letter for the blind, to be deposited open; ii) cliché with ce’cographic characters. The following items are also deemed to be ce’cogrammes, insofar as they are sent by duly recognized associations for the blind or addressed thereto: i) sound recordings; ii) special paper intended solely for the use of the blind; iii) texts with lettering in bold and expanded so as to allow visual residue to be machine-readable. Sound recordings sent by or to a blind person are also considered to be ce’cogrammes. These items are subject to the payment of fees due for special services (registration, notice of receipt, etc.), if any.
