QUESTION: What is the procedure to obtain a permit for the provision of postal services?

ANSWER: The applicant needs to fill out the prescribed form Permit issuance application – Approval for the provision of other postal services, which can be downloaded from RATEL’s website at https://www.ratel.rs/en/izdavanje-dozvola-za-obavljanje-postanskix-usluga-i-obrasci.  Along with the completed application, the following mandatory attachments listed therein must also be submitted:

1. Proof of fulfillment of the requirements for the provision of other postal services – obtained from the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications;

2. General terms and conditions for the provision of postal services – adopted on the basis of the Law on Postal Services and by-laws under which the postal operator is obliged to provide postal services;

3. Postal service price list – a document aligned with the General terms and conditions (each service specified in the general terms and conditions, unless designated as free, must have a price position within the price list and vise versa, the price list cannot contain a price position for a service that is not specified in the general terms and conditions);

4. Decision/Statement on the applicant's identification mark – a decision from the Intellectual Property Office on trademark (logo) registration. If you do not have this document, you need to attach a signed and certified Statement containing the printed or imprinted logo, stating that you confirm under penalty that the printed mark is the logo of the postal operator;

5. Authorization to sign the application – a document submitted if the application is not submitted by a legal representative.

RATEL is obliged to decide on an orderly application for granting a permit within 30 days from the date of submission of the application. The postal operator is obliged to pay the fee for permit issuance to RATEL according to the instructions that will be sent to the former’s e-mail address after submitting the Permit issuance application.

QUESTION: What is universal postal service?

ANSWER: Universal postal service is a service of general interest, representing a set of postal services provided continuously throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia, within the prescribed quality, at affordable prices and under equal conditions for all users, without discrimination.

QUESTION: What are reserved postal services?

ANSWER: Article 24 of the Law on Postal Services defines reserved postal services as part of universal postal service, provided exclusively by the public postal operator, i.e. PE "Post of Serbia". The price list of reserved postal services is approved by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Reserved postal services include:

• Collection and/or sorting and/or transport and/or delivery of letter-post items up to 50 grams;

• Collection and/or sorting and/or transport and/or delivery of letters in court, administrative and misdemeanor proceedings, as well as registered postal items, regardless of the limits;

• Collection and/or transfer and/or payment of postal money orders.

Letter-post items up to 50 grams shall not be considered reserved postal services if their price is equal to or higher than two and a half times the price of a letter-post item of the fastest category according to the applicable price list of the designated postal operator, the provider of universal postal service.

The public postal operator is designated to provide letter-post services up to 50 grams in both national and international postal traffic.

QUESTION: What is prohibited from transporting through postal channels?

ANSWER: It is prohibited to collect, transport and deliver postal items containing:

• dangerous and harmful materials, as well as hazardous substances which may harm people's life and health and damage other postal items, except materials whose handling is allowed by special regulations, international conventions, and other international acts;

• narcotics and psychotropic substances, unless the sender and the recipient are legally authorized to trade in drugs or have authorization to make use of them;

• materials of a pornographic or erotic nature depicting the sexual exploitation of children (child pornography) or human sexual activity involving animals and necrophilia;

• products or substances that may damage other postal items or postal equipment due to their nature or packaging;

• money, coins, banknotes, other securities, precious metals and valuable pieces of jewelry, except in insured postal items;

• live animals, except animals whose collection and shipping are determined by the special terms and conditions of the operator providing postal services;

• items whose import is prohibited in the country of destination;

• other goods and items the sending of which is prohibited by other regulations.

QUESTION: What is the compensation for undelivered or damaged postal items?

ANSWER: The postal operator is obliged to deliver the postal item to the recipient in the condition in which it was received from the sender.

For damage incurred in international postal traffic, the postal operator is held accountable in accordance with international acts, within the limits of established liability.

For damage incurred in national postal traffic, the postal operator is obliged to compensate the user as follows:

• for the loss or total damage of an insured postal item – declared amount on the item increased by value-based postal charge and tenfold the amount of the postage charged for that item minus value-based postal charge;

• for the loss or erroneous payment of money order – amount specified on the money order increased by tenfold the amount of the postage charged for the collection, transfer and payment of the money order;

• for partial damage or reduction of the content of an insured item – a sum amounting to determined partial damage or content reduction;

• for the loss or total damage of a recorded postal item – tenfold the amount of the postage charged;

• for partial damage or reduction of the content of a recorded item – a sum amounting to determined partial damage or content reduction;

• for the unprovided, partial or faulty recorded item postal service – fivefold the amount of the postage charged;

• for exceeding the deadline for delivery of a recorded postal item – threefold the amount of the postage charged.

Indirect damage or lost profit shall not be taken into account during the calculation of the compensation.

The postal operator is obliged to compensate the user who paid the postage charge for the conveyance of the item.