Minister of Public Enterprises Petra De Sutter (Groen) wants Bpost to reconsider the decision not to deliver part of the parcels at home in the coming weeks. She announced this after a consultation with the postal company.
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Due to the record volumes of parcels, Bpost can no longer deliver all parcels at home, the company announced on Friday. Some of the customers will have to pick up the parcels themselves at a collection point in the coming weeks. The decision led to fierce criticism from, among others, the trade federation Comeos.
“I understand the worried reactions that are now coming in to the special measures,” said De Sutter on Saturday. “I have consulted Bpost and asked them to review the measures by the beginning of next week on the basis of these legitimate concerns.” A specific time for this could not be given.
“Nearly 600,000 parcels per day”
The minister does emphasize the exceptional circumstances at Bpost. “Normally they deliver 270,000 parcels, now they are almost 600,000 parcels. They have already recruited an additional 2,000 people. People of Bpost are working hard to get this bulky. That is why the company is looking for solutions to keep doing this and we can be grateful to them for that. ”
For trade federation Comeos, the promise to “review” the situation is not enough. “First, the government calls for local purchases. When we do that en masse, it appears that Bpost, of which the government is the majority shareholder, cannot handle the job ”, it sounds. “It has been since the first lockdown that there have been problems. The rates will increase, but the service will not follow. ”
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