The Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) discussed and adopted within its Consultative Council meeting of 12 April 2017 a number of decisions concerning the postal service market. Thus, the following documents were adopted: decision on the request for the compensation of the net cost of the provision of postal services within the scope of universal service in 2015, decision on the general authorisation regime for the provision of postal services, decision on the postal service providers’ reporting of statistical data andthe Regulatory Strategy in the postal sector for the 2017-2020 timeframe.
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The net cost of the provision of universal service in 2015
Upon analysing the compensation request submitted by the Romanian Post National Company (CNPR), ANCOM verified and adjusted, as applicable, the value of the net cost of the provision of services within the scope of universal service calculated for 2015 by CNPR, and then analysed whether the adjusted net cost of the provision of services within the scope of universal service in 2015 represented an unfair burden for CNPR. According to the legal provisions in force, the net cost is deemed an unfair burden if it cumulatively meets two conditions regarding the level of the return of capital employed and the materiality threshold of the incomes from the provision of services within the scope of universal service.
The ANCOM analysis showed that the first criterion was met, given that the return of capital employed on the universal service segment was below the reasonable level of return established by ANCOM for 2015 at 13.10%, while the second criterion was not met, as the value of the net cost does not exceed the materiality threshold of 3% of the value of incomes obtained by the designated universal service provider from the provision of services within the scope of universal service.
After this analysis, ANCOM concluded that the net cost of the provision of services within the scope of universal service in 2015 was not an unfair burden for CNPR and therefore does not need to be compensated. ANCOM adopted and will communicate to CNPR the decision thereon.
Decision on the general authorisation regime
The new general authorisation regime for the provision of postal services aims at transposing, as accurately as possible, the most recent amendments and completions to the current primary legal framework, while  bringing up to date the secondary legislation in line with the innovative trends in the field, as a result of the developments on the postal market. ANCOM also pursued raising the level of transparency on the postal market as this new normative act includes obligations for the postal service providers related to making available to the users the relevant information.
Consequently to the review of the general authorisation regime, the postal service providers will have the obligation to submit to ANCOM, by 31 October 2017, the general conditions on the provision of postal services, updated in accordance with the legal provisions comprised in the new decision.
The decision adopted during this meeting will be sent for publication in the Romanian Official Journal and will become effective within 3 days from publication.
Decision on the reporting of statistical indicators
Given that new types of postal items have been defined in the primary legislation, in addition to the indicators currently reported, the postal service providers will have the obligation to report the traffic and the revenues obtained from processing the following: bulk items of correspondence, bulk postal parcels and bulk printed matter items, small packages, respectively bulk small packages, as well as M bags. Taking into account the technological evolution and the innovative solutions many providers began to use in order to collect and deliver the postal items, the new decision proposes a new statistical indicator concerning the self-service systems, which will be reported under the indicators on the access/contact points where no personnel is located, starting with 2018, for the 1 January - 31 December 2017 reference period.
These statistical data will be reported annually, by the 15th of March at the latest for the previous year.Â
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Concomitantly, the new decision requires the postal providers to report new indicators concerning the traffic of postal items (processed on the provider’s own account and on another provider’s account) and the revenues obtained from the provision of every service included or not in the scope of universal service. These indicators will be reported on an annual basis by the 15th of July for the same reference date represented by the previous calendar year.
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All the statistical data will be exclusively sent by electronic means via an application available online here, using a certified electronic signature. Failure to send the statistical data may be sanctioned with fines ranging between 100 and 15,000 lei for each of delay.
The decision will be published in the Romanian Official Journal and will become effective on 1 May 2017.
Regulatory Strategy in the postal sector for 2017-2020
The strategy is focused on the following main directions: promoting the interests of the postal users, ensuring the right of access to the universal service, promoting the competition and encouraging the investments and innovation. To reach the proposed objectives, ANCOM will continue monitoring the conditions on the provision of the postal services and their quality, informing the users on their rights in their relation to the postal providers and analysing the extent to which the postal services available on the market satisfy the specific needs of the users with special needs. The Authority’s regulatory activity in the postal sector is harmonised with the directions and strategic regulatory objectives established in line with the market development by the Community regulations.
The adopted strategy will be published on the Authority’s website.Â
 
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