contract-law germany administrative-law postal-service
Legally, what agreement is entered into when posting a letter (in Germany)?
<p>I am interested in what laws, either explicit or implicit, cover the delivery of a letter in Germany.</p>

<p>I would imagine that if I accurately address a letter that contains content which is permitted, I add the correct postage, and the the letter 'enters' the postal system (more on that below), then some 'agreement' to deliver the letter is formed between myself and the postal service.</p>

<p>Specific questions:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Does posting a letter create any 'legal' agreement between myself and the postal service? Is there any obligation to deliver a letter?</p></li>
<li><p>Assuming that an agreement is formed, at what point in the process? When the letter entered a post-box, when it was picked up from the postbox, or later - perhaps when a post-mark is added by the postal service?</p></li>
<li><p>What commitments beyond the happy-path described above exist? Is there any commitment to attempt to deliver a letter with a less than perfect address (e.g. missing out the postal-code)? Or to offer the recipient the chance to pay the additional postage owed on a letter without enough postage?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Although I am most interested in Germany, if there are any relevant international postal regulations then I am also interested in how these apply. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Does posting a letter create any 'legal' agreement between myself and
  the postal service? Is there any obligation to deliver a letter?</p>
  
  <p>Assuming that an agreement is formed, at what point in the process?
  When the letter entered a post-box, when it was picked up from the
  postbox, or later - perhaps when a post-mark is added by the postal
  service?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Posting a letter in Germany does not create a contractual agreement between you and the postal service (and so your follow up question above does not apply). </p>

<p>Instead, German postal service activities are governed by the <a href="https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=718" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Postal Act</a> and regulations adopted by the postal service. The Postal Act creates a system in which independent contractors licensed by the government carry out parts of the process of delivering the mail and are given quasi-governmental status in connection with these activities. Since it is quasi-governmental it has immunity from legal liability, except as set forth expressly by statute.</p>

<p>The postal service and its contractors and employees are required to follow the Postal Act and related regulations, and the people and entities involved in doing so may have legal liability for compensatory damages caused to someone as a result of their intentional or negligent violation of the regulations. In contrast, contactual liability is generally imposed without regard to fault and any failure to perform as expected by the parties is actionable.</p>

<p>So, in Germany, you can't prevail in suing the postal service or a contractor or postal employee simply by showing that a letter wasn't delivered in a timely fashion, or wasn't forwarded appropriately. You also have to show a court why this happened and demonstrate that the conduct that caused this to happen was intentional or negligent compared to the standard of care for postal workers in the situation in which the alleged misconduct occurred.</p>

<p>German law, generally speaking, <a href="https://globalarbitrationreview.com/chapter/1151600/compensatory-damages-principles-in-civil-and-common-law-jurisdictions-%E2%80%93-requirements-underlying-principles-and-limits" rel="nofollow noreferrer">interprets compensatory damages rather narrowly compared to U.S. courts</a>, for example, generally excluding damages for inconvenience and emotional distress, and favors orders compelling someone to carry out a duty in lieu of a damages award for failure to perform a duty, when possible.</p>

<p>Some of the obligations of contractors and employees, such as delivery deadlines, are overall performance standards which are not enforceable in individual cases because not every letter must meet those standards, only a certain percentage of a letters in the system.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What commitments beyond the happy-path described above exist? Is there
  any commitment to attempt to deliver a letter with a less than perfect
  address (e.g. missing out the postal-code)? Or to offer the recipient
  the chance to pay the additional postage owed on a letter without
  enough postage?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The highlighted language in subparagraph 4 of the portion of the Postal Universal Service Ordinance quoted at length below governs what should be done in this situation. (There may be additional requirements set forth in other regulations or in individual subcontractor license agreements; this answer is not comprehensive.)</p>

<p>The pertinent provisions of the Postal Act provide that:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Chapter VII Service of Documents under Public Law Regulations</p>
  
  <p>§33 Service of Documents Requirement</p>
  
  <p>(1) Any licensee providing letter post delivery services shall
  undertake to serve documents, irrespective of their weight, in
  accordance with the provisions of the relevant rules of procedure and
  legislation on the rules of service in administrative procedure.
  Sovereign powers commensurate with this obligation shall be vested in
  the licensee (entrepreneur charged with specific functions in the
  public interest).</p>
  
  <p>(2) The Regulatory Authority shall exempt from the obligation
  according to (1) above a licensee thus obliged, upon its request,
  provided the licensee does not have a dominant position in the market.
  Exemption is ruled out if there is reason to believe that service of
  documents according to (1) above would no longer be ensured across the
  Federal Republic of Germany as a result. Exemption may be revoked if
  the licensee becomes dominant in the market or if the condition set
  forth in sentence 2 above becomes applicable. A request for exemption
  may be linked to an application for licence grant.</p>
  
  <p>§35 Liability in the Performance of Service of Documents</p>
  
  <p>Liable for any damage caused by neglect of duty in the performance of
  service of documents shall be the licensee obliged, in accordance with
  the regulations governing a civil service employer’s liability for
  damages in the territorial area. . . .</p>
  
  <p>§38 Liability for Damages</p>
  
  <p>Whosoever intentionally or negligently violates this Act, an ordinance
  having the force of law issued by virtue of this Act, any obligation
  arising from a licence or any other Regulatory Authority order shall,
  to the extent that the legal provision, obligation or order aims to
  protect another party, be obliged to compensate that party for any
  damage arising from such violation.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, the postal service's obligations with regard to delivering mail are a matter of postal service regulations rather than being in the nature of contracts. And, if an employee or contractor of the postal service causes harm by intentionally or negligently disregarding the regulations, that employee or contractor is obligated to pay compensatory damages to someone harmed by that violation.</p>

<p>The primary postal service regulation in Germany, is called the <a href="https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=720" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Postal Universal Service Ordinance</a>. Some pertinent provisions of this regulation state:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol start="2">
  <li><p>There shall be sufficient letter boxes that customers in urban areas will not need, as a rule, to travel more than 1,000 metres to
  reach one. Letter boxes shall be emptied every working day and,
  depending on requirements, on Sundays and bank holidays, as frequently
  as is needed to comply with the quality standards cited in subpara 3.
  Letter box clearances shall be based on the dictates of business life;
  clearance times are to be indicated on the letter boxes. Letter boxes
  within the meaning of sentences 1 and 2 above may also be other
  receptacles that are suitable for posting letters.</p></li>
  <li><p>Of the inland letter items mailed on a working day, at least 80 per cent on average, over the year, must be delivered on the working day
  following the day of mailing and 95 per cent by the second working day
  following mailing – with the exception of items subject to the
  requirement of a minimum 50 items per mailing. In respect of
  intra-Community cross-border mail the quality standards laid down in
  the Annex to Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the
  Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the
  internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of
  quality of service (OJ 1998 No. L 15/14) shall apply. If the Annex to
  the Directive is amended the quality standards in the amended version
  shall apply as from the first day of the third month following
  publication of the amendment.</p></li>
  <li><p>Letter items shall be delivered, unless the addressee – by establishing a PO box or in any other way – has declared that he
  intends to collect the items. Delivery shall be made to the residence
  or business premises stated in the address, by placing the items in a
  receptacle specifically for the addressee and large enough to be
  provided with the items, or by handing the items over in person. <strong>Any
  items that cannot be delivered in accordance with sentence 2 shall be
  handed over to an alternative recipient, where possible, unless there
  are instructions to the contrary from the sender or addressee. Where
  the addressee’s residential or business address can only be reached
  with undue difficulty or in the absence of a suitable or accessible
  receptacle for the letter items, the addressee may be excluded from
  delivery. The person so affected shall be informed of this intended
  exclusion.</strong></p></li>
  <li><p>There shall be a minimum of one delivery per working day.</p></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>The structure of postal service law in Germany, as a question of administrative law regarding the functioning of a government agency, rather than as a contract between the person sending a letter than the postal service, would be typical of most countries (although in many countries there would not be the added complication of providing postal services through independent contractors).</p>

<p>If you send a letter, you're entering into a contract with the respective postal operator. I'm not sure when the contract is entered into (it could be when you buy postage), but the contract should be deemed to be concluded at latest when the letter enters is dropped into the collection box.</p>

<p>The relationship between a customer and a postal operator is clearly contract law, although the whole sector is subject to regulation by the Federal Network Agency.</p>

<p>All postal operators (including the incumbent, Deutsche Post AG) are organized as private entities (or in rare cases, natural persons).</p>

<p>As a result of this, all postal operators have general conditions of business (for instance, see here for DPAG: <a href="https://www.deutschepost.de/content/dam/dpag/images/A_a/AGB/dp_agb_brief-national_2017_online.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.deutschepost.de/content/dam/dpag/images/A_a/AGB/dp_agb_brief-national_2017_online.pdf</a> or here for LVZpost: <a href="https://www.lvz-post.de/agb.html?file=files/dokumente/AGB_LVZ%20Post%20GmbH_Briefversand.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.lvz-post.de/agb.html?file=files/dokumente/AGB_LVZ%20Post%20GmbH_Briefversand.pdf</a> )</p>

<p>Now back to your question:</p>

<p>As far as I know, postal operators are supposed to deliver letters but if a letter gets lost, your rights are limited by the general conditions of business (AGB). For regular (read: unregistered) letters this means that your rights approach zero.</p>

<p>Now of course postal operators aren't allowed to put anything they want into their AGBs. This is Germany, everything has to be regulated. So you could try to challenge the AGB for incompatibility with either § 305 et seq. BGB, the PostG or some regulatory order issued by the BNetzA (Federal Network Agency).</p>

<p>For instance, you could try to claim that the full waiver of liability for lost items is surprising for customers who expect that they would be compensated for damages and that therefore the liability waiver is void under § 305c BGB.</p>

<p>However, I doubt that this approach would work.</p>

<p><strong>So short answer is: Postal operators are supposed to deliver your letters, but if they fail, there's little you can do.</strong></p>
