For many mail recipients, it is still surprising that mail is delivered by companies other than Posti. This is confirmed by the fact that, each week, consumers drop off thousands of incorrectly delivered letters in Posti’s yellow letterboxes. However, these letters were actually delivered by other delivery companies.
“This year, nearly 100,000 incorrectly delivered mail items have been returned to Posti, even though these items were delivered by companies other than Posti. The company responsible for the delivery is always responsible for any delivery errors, too. Incorrectly delivered letters should have been returned directly to the delivery company responsible for the delivery in question and not to Posti,” points out Kaj Kulp, Vice President, Mail and Direct Marketing Services at Posti.
According to the Postal Act, each postal company must arrange a service for returning mail items that they have delivered incorrectly. If you receive a letter delivered by Posti that is intended for someone else (e.g. for a former resident), you can write “delivered incorrectly” on the item and then drop it off in the nearest Posti letterbox. Posti will then deliver it to the correct recipient. You must never open or destroy an incorrectly delivered letter.
Letter items delivered incorrectly by other delivery companies should not be dropped off in a Posti letterbox. Instead, you should follow the procedures issued by that particular delivery company.
Check the delivery company in question from the code on the envelope
The Postal Act requires that postal companies must mark the items they deliver in such a way that they can be identified and separated from mail items delivered by other postal companies. Therefore, each letter includes a code by which the delivery company can be identified. Corporate letters delivered by Posti have the PRIORITY or ECONOMY marking in addition to the Posti Oy marking.
“If a letter recipient has received another recipient’s letter, the first thing to do is to check which delivery company is responsible for the delivery. The delivery company can be identified from the letter combination on the envelope. If you have not received a letter you are expecting, in practice, you have to ask the sender about it.”
Free competition in letter mail delivery
Corporate letters, i.e. letters sent by contract customers, such as invoices, are delivered throughout Finland by up to 14 other delivery companies in addition to Posti. These other companies deliver letter mail in early-morning newspaper delivery areas in connection with newspaper delivery during the night time, whereas Posti delivers letters in its daytime delivery.
“Competition in mail delivery is free due to the previous reforms to the Postal Act, and there is a low threshold for entering the field,” Kulp stresses.
How to identify the delivery company in question
Abbreviation on envelope | Delivery company | Delivery area |
|---|---|---|
EB | Sanoma (Early Bird) | Uusimaa |
ESA | Mediatalo ESA Oy | Päijät-Häme |
ILVES | Ilves Jakelu Oy | Kanta-Häme |
KALE | Kaleva365 Oy | North Ostrobothnia and Lapland |
KOJA | Koillisjakelu Oy (Kaleva) | Kuusamo |
KP | Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapaino Oyj | Ostrobothnia |
LSTJ | Turun Sanomat (Lounais-Suomen Tietojakelu Oy) | Varsinais-Suomi |
MALAP | Kaleva365 Oy | Lapland |
MANU | Alma Manu Oy | Pirkanmaa |
MARVA | Marva Media Oy | Rauma |
MASAT | Alma Manu Oy | Satakunta |
PKS | PKS Jakelu Oy | Capital region |
PPP | PPP Finland Oy | South Ostrobothnia |
SJOY | Savon Jakelu Oy | Savo |
SLP | SLP Jakelu Oy | Kainuu |
VSTJ | Turun Sanomat/Varsinais-Suomen Tietojakelu Oy | Salo |
Posti’s code on corporate letters is Posti Oy and PRIORITY, ECONOMY or POSTI GREEN. Posti delivers letters throughout the country.