According to a judgment by the district court of Cologne, the procedure at the post office with mobile stamps is illegal. Customers would be clearly disadvantaged, say consumer advocates. That should change now.
Many processes are increasingly shifting to digital, including at Deutsche Post. You can now send your mail via E-Postscan, for example, or view the status of a parcel shipment online at any time. If you have the Post app, you can also frank your letters and postcards yourself using the so-called mobile postage stamp. However, the service, which has been around since 2020, has now come under clear criticism, which is not due to the offer itself, but rather to the corresponding deadline. According to consumer advocates, it is far too short at 14 days. The district court of Cologne agreed. However, the last word has not yet been spoken.
Deutsche Post mobile postage stamp under criticism
Order the code via the app, write it on the letter, send it off, done. In itself a very simple process – unless you take a little more time with the sending. The code generated via the app is only valid for 14 days; Swiss Post also explicitly points this out on the corresponding information page for digital stamps. Consumer advocates warn that this is far too short. The period of two weeks puts customers at an unreasonable disadvantage.
That’s why she Federation of Consumers (vsbv) filed a corresponding lawsuit. It’s not just about the short term itself. “After 14 days, Swiss Post simply keeps the money for postage codes that have already been paid for but not yet used, without providing anything in return,” says Jana Brockfeld, vzbv’s legal officer. However, a period of three years is required by law. The Swiss Post’s approach to the mobile stamp accordingly represents an “extreme shortening of the statutory limitation period”.
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Verdict on the mobile postage stamp not yet final
The Cologne Regional Court, before which the case was heard, also agreed with this line of argument in December 2022. Incidentally, Deutsche Post attributes its approach to the limited number of characters. Should a period of three years apply to the mobile stamps, the code would have to be significantly longer accordingly. It would also make the system more vulnerable to abuse. However, the judges rejected these reasons. According to the court, since the code consists of digits and numbers, there would be enough combinations to ensure a corresponding period. In addition, it is up to the company to ensure the security of the mobile stamps.
Deutsche Post has now appealed the verdict at the next instance. Accordingly, nothing is legally binding yet. However, it can be assumed that the Cologne Higher Regional Court will confirm the first decision. In all likelihood, nothing will change for consumers until then. If the judgment is finally confirmed, the clause that excludes reimbursement after 14 days if the code for the digital stamp has not been used will be the main issue. If necessary, the deadline will remain in place, but with the option for customers to reclaim the postage accordingly.
This is how you can frank your mail digitally
In order to be able to use the mobile stamps, you need the corresponding Deutsche Post app. Then proceed as follows:
- Depending on the size and shipping method, choose the appropriate postage.
- Then the option “Code for writing” is available with a corresponding number of letters for the number of letters to be sent. Select the appropriate quantity.
- You will now receive a code via app consisting of #PORTO and a two-line, eight-digit character string.
- Copy the code in writing and write it in the top right corner where the stamp would normally be.