Food deliveries are not postal items

According to the Postal Act the providers of postal services are subject to an obligation to report. This obligation results in, among other things, the fact that suppliers must guarantee the implementation of customary working conditions and must negotiate a collective labour agreement with employee associations.

PostCom, the regulating authority in the postal market, insisted that Uber Portier B.V. and eat.ch GmbH were obliged to report, since express and courier shipments were also covered by the Postal Act. Food deliveries would thereby be qualified as postal services. Both companies, however, appealed these decisions separately to the Federal Administrative Court (FAC).

Commodities and package freight are not postal services
The FAC declares that the legislator did not want to deviate from the federal constitution by insinuating that express and courier services fall under postal services. Therefore commodities and package freight do not fall under postal services. This includes the conveyance of food deliveries. These do therefore not qualify as postal services. Due to the lack of postal services Uber Portier B.V. and eat.ch GmbH are not obliged to report as providers of postal services. The court allows their appeals.

These judgments may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.