ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações e CTT - Correios de Portugal, S.A. (ICP - National Communications Authority and CTT - Correios de Portugal, S.A.)
Universal postal service quality convention
Between the parties:
a) ICP-National Communications Authority, hereinafter referred to as ICP - ANACOM;
b) CTT - CORREIOS DE PORTUGAL, S.A., hereinafter referred to as CTT;
Pursuant to article 8, paragraph 5, of Law no. 102/99, of 26 July, as amended by Decree-Law no. 116/2003, of 12 June, and under Clause 12 of the Universal Postal Service Concession Agreement, signed on 1 September 2000, as amended on 9 September 2003 and on 26 July 2006 the following Convention is hereby concluded, and shall be governed by the following articles:
SECTION I
Scope and definitions
Article 1
Scope of the Convention
This Convention sets out and publishes the parameters and the minimum levels of quality of service associated to the provision of the universal postal service provided by CTT, covering the following services:
a) Reserved postal services;
b) Non-reserved postal services pertaining to the universal service.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention, the following definitions shall apply:
a) Concession Agreement - universal postal service concession agreement entered into between the Portuguese State and CTT, on 1 September 2000, pursuant to Decree-Law no. 448/99, of 4 November, as amended on 9 September 2003 and 26 July 2006, pursuant respectively to Decree-Law no. 116/2003 of 12 June and Decree-Law no. 112/2006 of 9 June;
b) Postal Parcels - packages of a small size comprising merchandise or objects with or without commercial value, the weight of which does not exceed 20 Kg;
c) Item of Correspondence - communication in written form on any kind of physical medium to be conveyed and delivered at the address indicated on the item itself or on its wrapping, including addressed advertising;
d) Postal Item - includes items of correspondence, books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals, and postal parcels;
e) Postal Service - the activity comprising clearance, sorting, transport and distribution of postal items;
f) Universal Postal Service - comprises a postal service for delivery of items of correspondence, books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals up to 2 Kg and postal parcels up to 20 Kg, as well as a delivery service of registered items and a delivery service of insured items, both at national and international level;
g) Reserved Services - services provided exclusively by the universal service provider, including the provision of the following services:
1) Postal service of delivery of items of correspondence, including addressed advertising whether by express delivery or not, the price of which is lower than two and a half times the public tariff for sending first weight step correspondence of the fastest standardised category, provided that the weight thereof does not exceed 50 g, both at national and international level;
2) Postal service of delivery of registered items and insured items, including services concerning legal summons and notification by post, within the same price and weight limits referred to in the preceding point, both at national and international levels.
h) Non-reserved services pertaining to the Universal Postal Service - include the provision of the following services:
1) Postal service of delivery of items of correspondence, including addressed advertising, whether by express delivery or not, the weight of which is equal to, or more than, 50 g and does not exceed 2 Kg, or, where the weight thereof is lower than 50 g, the price of which is equal to, or more than, two and a half times the public tariff for sending first weight step correspondence of the fastest standardised category, both at national and international levels;
2) Postal service of delivery of books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals not exceeding 2 Kg, both at national and international level;
3) Postal service of delivery of postal parcels not exceeding 20 Kg, both at national and international level;
4) Postal service of delivery of registered and insured items, the weight of which is equal to, or more than, 50 g or the price of which is equal to, or more than, two and a half times the public tariff for sending first weight step correspondence of the fastest standardised category, both at national and international level.
SECTION II
Obligations of CTT
Article 3
Obligations of CTT
CTT undertake to provide the postal services referred to in article 4 in accordance with the quality standards and indicators referred to in the annex herewith.
Article 4
Types of Services
1 - For the purposes of this Convention, the following types of postal services shall be considered, under point f) of article 2, in its several formats, weight steps and provision methods:
a) Postal service for delivery of items of correspondence as Priority Mail and Non-priority Mail;
b) Postal service for delivery of catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals;
c) Postal service for delivery of postal parcels, as Non-priority Mail.
2 - For the purposes of this Convention, in order to evaluate the quality of the universal postal service provision, the customer service quality provided at different front-desk points, namely post offices, postal agencies and post office outlets shall also be considered, measured by the waiting time in a queue to be served.
3 - Where CTT creates or alters the types of postal services, the inclusion thereof in this Convention shall be agreed between the parties, being subject to an addendum hereto.
4 - For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, the creation or alteration of the types of postal services shall be reported to ANACOM in advance.
Article 5
Compliance with the levels of quality of service
1 - Where levels of quality of service established herein are not complied with, the compensation mechanism provided for in paragraph 2 of the annex hereto shall apply, in the scope of reserved services, taking effect solely and exclusively in the year subsequent to that in which the non-compliance has taken place.
2 - Situations of non-compliance that arise from the application of the previous paragraphs shall be monitored by ICP-ANACOM, having heard the CTT.
Article 6
Deductions for the purpose of calculating indicators of quality of service
1 - Should any force majeur or phenomenon situation take place, the burst and evolution of which are clearly outside the control of CTT, and have an impact on the quality of service provided by CTT, the latter may request, for the purpose of calculation of the quality of service indicators (QSI) comprised in paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto, the deduction of the inputs for the concerned periods of time and geographic flows.
2 – Force majeur or phenomenon situations mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed to mean unpredictable or insurmountable natural events and/or facts attributable to third parties, that are triggered, evolve, or the effects of which occur regardless of CTT’s will and ability to control, such as war, subversion, epidemics, cyclones, earthquakes, fire, lightning, floods, general strikes and any other similar events that may impair normal conditions of clearance, sorting, transport and distribution of postal items.
3- Without prejudice to the previous paragraphs, where up to the full liberalization of the postal sector in Portugal CTT registers internal work disruptions that impair the quality of service provided, the latter may request, for the purpose of calculating the QSI comprised in paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto, the deduction of the inputs for the concerned periods of time and geographic flows.
4 - The request for deduction activation, referred to in the preceding paragraphs, must be submitted in writing by CTT, together with the grounds therefor, within 60 days at the most from the date the events have taken place.
5 - The decision as to whether the request referred to in the preceding paragraph should be taken into consideration is incumbent upon ICP-ANACOM, which should be notified to CTT within 30 days at the most from the date of receipt of such request. Where ICP-ANACOM rejects this request, the Authority shall provide the respective grounds. Regardless of the request for deduction, CTT undertake to try to find the best alternatives for the period the situations mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 take place.
Article 7
Alteration of the standards and levels of quality of service
1 - The levels of quality of service referred to in paragraph 1 of article 5 are assessed in accordance with the quality of service indicators comprised in the annex hereto. Alterations to those indicators may require renegotiation of the levels of quality, should those changes lead to significant variations in the results achieved.
2 - The alterations referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be duly reasoned. Where the parties agree on the alterations to be introduced, the latter shall be subject to an addendum to this Convention.
3 - The standards and levels of quality of service comprised in the Annex hereto may be renegotiated where the European Committee for Standardization publishes new provisions on the quality of service of postal services.
Article 8
Alteration of the calculation methods of the levels of quality of service
1 - In order to ensure an adequate monitoring of the quality of service, CTT shall take into account the recommendations provided by ICP-ANACOM, as a result of duly reasoned audits carried out to the quality of service indicators, undertaking to introduce alterations comprised in determinations.
2 - The calculation methods of quality of service levels may be altered where the European Committee for Standardization publishes new provisions on postal services quality of service.
SECTION III
Quality levels of the universal postal service
Article 9
Quality of service indicators
1 - The quality of service indicators (QSI) of the universal postal service, as well as the respective acceptable minimum values (Min), target values (Targ) and the relative importance (RI) of each QSI are those comprised in paragraph 1 of the annex hereto.
2 - Taking into account the effects of changes in the quality monitoring systems, the QSI and the values referred to in the preceding paragraph may be reassessed.
3 - The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be agreed between the parties, and the new QSI and values agreed shall be subject to an addendum to this Convention.
Article 10
Follow-up and Monitoring
1 - CTT shall send to ICP-ANACOM quarterly reports, by the end of the month following the end of the quarter, with the evolution of values achieved for the above-mentioned QSI, and shall enable the monitoring of those values.
2 - As regards QSI 1, 2, 3 and 9 comprised in paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto, CTT undertakes also to supply to ICP-ANACOM, every quarter, information on the quality levels achieved, broken down by Mainland, Azores, Madeira and MAM (including flows between Mainland and the Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira, and vice-versa, as well as flows between and within the Autonomous Regions).
3 - ICP-ANACOM may control these results by carrying out its own researches, the methods of which shall be reported to CTT. CTT shall supply the necessary statistical information for the proper performance of these researches.
4 - If the results achieved by ICP-ANACOM differ from those of CTT, as far as the levels of quality of service are concerned, there will be a clarification discussion between the parties. In case the parties fail to achieve a consensus, the results of ICP-ANACOM shall be used for the application of the system in paragraph 2 of the Annex hereto.
Article 11
Disclosure
1 – CTT shall publish in an appropriate manner, including by making available in a specific address of CTT’s website, and provide regularly to users information on QSI defined in paragraph 1 of the Annex hereto, including the acceptable minimum values (Min), target values (Targ) and relative importance (RI).
2 – CTT shall publish by the end of March the QSI values actually reached in the previous civil year. This information shall be published in a specific address of CTT’s website, in the corresponding series of the Official Gazette and in postal stations, namely post offices, postal agencies and post office outlets.
3 – The information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall also be made available on request at CTT’s customer services.
4 – CTT shall inform ICP-ANACOM of the website address referred to in paragraph 1, which may be disclosed by ICP-ANACOM to users.
Section IV
Final provisions
Article 12
Settlement of disputes
Any disputes between the Parties as regards the execution, interpretation, application or integration of this Convention and decisions taken under it shall be settled pursuant to the Concession Agreement.
Article 13
Taking effect
1 - This Convention shall take effect as from 1 January 2008, and shall be in force for a three-year period, being renewable for successive one-year periods of time, except where terminated by either party, at least 60 calendar days in advance of the date of expiry.
2 – Without prejudice to the preceding paragraph, parties are entitled to revoke the Convention by agreement at any time.
3 - Where the Convention is terminated or revoked by agreement, pursuant respectively to paragraphs 1 and 2, the levels of quality arising therefrom and the compensation mechanism for non-compliance with levels of service mentioned in article 5 remain in force, until the standards established in a new Convention come into force.
Lisbon, 10 July 2008
ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações
CTT - Correios de Portugal, S.A.
Annex - Universal postal service quality indicators
