Little by little, the information that the Stalbe post office will be closed reaches the residents of the parish.
“I came to the post office and found out. A big and unpleasant surprise,” says Guido Apšinieks and expresses his opinion: “I have a car, I live near Rucka, I will go to Straupi, but what will the neighbors, old people, how will they do? If a relative brings, then more. I want to see how the postman will enter pensioners’ homes and bring in the pension.”
Didzis Zemmers, head of the administration of the Pārgauja association, admits that the municipality of Stalbe does not have premises that could be offered cheaper, although the rent here is not high either. “The conversation with the manager of the Vidzeme region of “Latvijas Pasta” took place when it had already been decided. If the decision has not yet been made, a solution can be sought, but it has been clearly stated that there will be no post office in Stalbe. The municipality can write a letter to “Latvijas Pastam” and the ministry, but the decision will most likely not be canceled,” says the head of the administration and emphasizes that the residents should be informed as much as possible so that they understand what will happen in the future.
D. Zemmers believes that postal services are used less and less every year. The municipality is also sending fewer and fewer letters by mail, even if it is real estate tax bills. However, services are not needed by everyone. And it is customary to receive them at the post office. In defense of their post office, 165 transgressors signed a letter to the Minister of Transport. “The signatures were collected in four days, even though there was no special campaign. Doesn’t this show that the citizens need the post office?” says Guna Rukšāne, the initiator of the defense of the post office. The letter with the signatures, also the head of the administration of the Pārgauja association of the Cēsi region, was sent to the minister of traffic.
Gunita Thomsone, head of the Vidzeme region of the Postal Network Department of “Latvijas Pasta” emphasizes to “Druva” that it is not about closing the post office, but about changing the format of providing postal services. “Due to the low demand for mail, postal services in Stalbe Parish will be provided from April 25 in accordance with real demand, providing both all necessary postal services and preventing losses for the state company,” informs G. Thomsone and says that after the pandemic, customers have changed their habits, they choose self-service and other modern solutions. As customers’ habits have changed, the flow of customers who visit post offices in person has significantly decreased.
“The post office of Stalbe shows that the demand for postal services has not been sufficient, causing “Latvijas Pastam” annual losses of approximately 2,700 euros. That is why a decision was made to change the operating model of this post office,” explains G. Thomsone.
Residents of Stalbe will be able to receive postal services not only at the place where postal services are provided, but they can also choose to do so outside of working hours at the postman at their place of residence. “The postman provides the same services at the customer’s place of residence as are available at the place of postal service provision: delivery, acceptance and sending of letters, correspondence and parcels, purchase of stamps and envelopes, subscription to press releases, money transfer and pension receipt, payment of utility and other bills, contributions in the account of the postal settlement system, purchase of commercial goods and others,” says G. Thomsone and adds that experience shows that in places with a small population, customers are happy to use the postal services provided by the postman at their place of residence, instead of visiting the post office.
The head of the Vidzeme region of the postal network department reminds that it is most profitable and safest for customers to receive their pension at their place of residence through the postman, by applying for this service at the State Social Insurance Agency. For a VSAA customer, the delivery of a pension to the place of residence will cost 2.39 euros. An alternative is a payment from the PNS account at the customer’s place of residence, which costs eight euros.
This week, the residents of Zaubes parish also received the news about the changes in the work of the post office in their mailboxes. As of April 27, the operating model and working hours of the Zaubes post office will be changed. All postal services will be provided at the current location “Ancīš” every working day from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Residents outside the place of delivery of postal services during working hours will be able to choose to receive postal services from the postman at their place of residence. According to “Latvijas Pasts”, the Zaubes post office has little demand for universal mail services. This results in annual losses of more than 6,100 euros.
