A proposal that would see Switzerland’s treasured daily postal service scrapped and replaced by twice-weekly deliveries has, unsurprisingly, sparked a row among politicians.
The ‘Avenir Suisse’ think-tank has issued a controversial new report that has proposed a radical reform of Switzerland’s postal service.
Concretely, it proposes cutting down mail delivery from daily to twice weekly, especially in sparsely populated rural areas, adding that “by 2030, the universal service could be limited to B mail, with delivery by postmen at least twice a week. Delivery of A mail would then become a ‘premium’ service outside the universal service.”
Since the Swiss Post is wholly owned by the government, this proposal would have to be approved by the parliament before having any chance of being adopted.
But a number of MPs are against it.
Deputy David Roth, for instance,,noted that if this measure were implemented “public service to the population would be dismantled and postal service limited in unprofitable areas.”
Another MP, Simon Stadler, sees this move as “an attack on public services and the basic needs of our mountain and rural populations.
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“In a country where the Swiss Post remains a pillar of social cohesion, this debate illustrates a growing tension between profitability and public service,” he said.
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