PostNL will discontinue its next-day delivery service due to a sustained drop in letter volumes. Caretaker economic affairs minister Vincent Karremans stated this change is essential to maintain postal service functionality across the Netherlands, and he has proposed easing regulations.

The standard delivery timeframe will now be 48 hours, an increase from the previous 24, although medical mail and death notifications will be excluded from this extension. Minister Karremans projects a further lengthening of delivery times to 72 hours by the close of the decade.

A similar proposal to extend delivery times was previously rejected by Parliament last October. PostNL will remain obligated to deliver 95% of mail on time and continue providing service five days a week.

The company requested the extension because it has been unable to meet the next-day delivery target in recent years, with only 86% of letters delivered on time last year. PostNL attributes this to staffing shortages and insufficient postal rates. They also hold a monopoly on the Universal Postal Service (USD) in the Netherlands.