Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011

29.

Terminal dues and evasion of postage.

29.— (1) In order to ensure the cross-border provision of the universal postal service, a universal postal service provider shall ensure that its agreements on terminal dues for intra-Community cross-border mail comply with the following requirements:

(a) terminal dues shall be fixed in relation to the costs of processing and delivering incoming cross-border mail;

(b) levels of remuneration shall be related to the quality of service achieved; and

(c) terminal dues shall be transparent and non-discriminatory.

(2) The Commission may, following a public consultation process, give a direction to a universal postal service provider to ensure compliance with the requirements specified in subsection (1).

(3) (a) This subsection applies to a postal packet which—

(i) is posted outside the State,

(ii) is addressed to the addressee at an address in the State, and

(iii) purports to come from or to be sent by or on behalf of a person residing or carrying on business in the State,

but does not apply to a postal packet which purports to come from or to be sent by or on behalf of a person who carries on business both in and outside the State unless the postal packet purports to come or be sent only from an address, or all the addresses, of such person in the State.

(b) A universal postal service provider shall have the power to charge and recover from the person—

(i) from whom a postal packet to which this subsection applies purports to come, or

(ii) by whom or on whose behalf such postal packet purports to have been sent,

as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction, the difference between the postage which would have been payable had the postal packet been posted in the State and the amount actually paid or payable to the universal postal service provider in respect of that postal packet posted outside the State to an address in the State and purporting to be sent by or on behalf of someone who is residing or carrying on business in the State unless terminal dues, which meet the requirements specified in subsection (1), apply to that postal packet.