2. Federal Act, with which the Postal Act 1997 is amended (Postal Law 2005)

The National Council has decided:

The Postal Act 1997, BGBl. I n ° 18/1998, as last amended by the Federal Law BGBl. N ° 72/2003, shall be amended as follows:

1. § 2 Z 3 reads:

" 3.		"postal services" means the services related to the collection, sorting, transport and delivery of postal items; "

2. The term "postal services" shall be defined by the term "postal services" in the grammatically correct form.

3. In § 2 are inserted after Z 3:

" 3a.		"public postal network" means the totality of the organisation and the means of any kind used by the universal service providers, so that, in particular, the following services can be provided:
-		the collection of postal items from access points throughout the territory covered by universal service obligations;
-		the forwarding and processing of these programmes from the point of access of the postal network to the delivery centre;
-		delivery to the address on the consignment in question;
3b.		"access points" means the facilities, including post-letterboxes intended for the general public, in public channels or in the premises of universal service providers, where the users are sent their postal items to the public postal network;
3c.		"pickup" means the collection of postal items at access points;
3d.		"delivery" means the processing steps from sorting in the delivery centres to the delivery of the consignments to the recipient; "

4. § 2 Z 4 reads:

" 4.		"postal consignment" means an addressed consignment in the final form in which it is adopted by providers of universal services or other postal service providers; "

5. § 2 Z 6 is deleted.

6. § 2 Z 12 reads:

" 12.		'direct advertising' means a consignment consisting solely of advertising material, marketing or advertising material and, apart from the name, address and identification number of the consignee, and other adaptations which do not change the nature of the communication, an identical Notice to be sent to at least 100 recipients and sent to the address indicated by the sender on the consignment itself or in the packaging. Invoices of any kind and other non-Tibetan communications shall not be deemed to be direct marketing. A communication in which direct mail is linked to other consignments in the same packaging shall not be considered direct advertising. "

7. In § 2 are added after Z 12:

" 13.		"sender" means the natural or legal person who is the originator of postal mail;
14.		"User" means the natural or legal person who uses a universal service as the sender or recipient. "

8. The term "Customer" shall be defined by the term "Users" in the grammatically correct form.

9. The heading to the second section is:

"Universal service and reserved postal service"

10. § 4 reads:

" Universal Service

§ 4. (1) The universal service shall include the following services:

1.		Collection, sorting, transport and delivery of postal items up to 2 kg,
2.		Collection, sorting, transport and delivery of postal packages up to 20 kg and
3.		Services for write-in and value consignments.

(2) In the context of the universal service, the operator shall ensure that users are constantly offered postal services nationwide at generally affordable prices and in such a quality that users ' needs are met with the needs of the users. by a corresponding density of pick-up and access points as well as by the pickup and delivery frequency. To the extent that comparable conditions are met, the same services are to be guaranteed for the users. In the provision of the universal service, consideration shall be given to technical developments, as well as to macroeconomic, regional and social aspects, as well as to the demand of users.

(3) Equipment, nature and dimensions of the postal items to be transported within the scope of the universal service shall comply with the provisions of the Universal Postal Treaty and the other agreements of the World Postal Office.

(4) The Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology may lay down more detailed provisions for the provision of services to be attributed to the universal service, in particular the density of pick-up and access points, and the collection and access points. Delivery frequency, reporting obligation to the regulatory authority and the further development of universal service. In doing so, it must also take account of the geographical situation and the economic impact on the operator in order to ensure a lasting satisfactory result of the universal service.

(5) The universal service operator shall draw up a universal service concept (universal service concept) and the supreme postal authority by 1 March of each year at the latest. The concept is to be updated annually; it can also be adapted within the year if necessary. All the measures relating to universal service, such as the restructuring of the branch network, general changes in the opening hours of the branches and changes in the supply of mail boxes, have in the framework of this concept , taking into account the universal provision of universal service provision. Closure of post offices in the part of the concept (branch network concept) relating to the branch network may only be completed if the cost-covering management of a post office is permanently excluded and the provision of the Universal service through an alternative solution (post office, land delivery, "mobile post office" or similar alternative supply solution) is guaranteed. Prior to the closure of a post office, the communities supplied by this post office are to be informed in a timely way and, in consensual interaction with the affected communities, seek alternative solutions within 3 months with the Endeavor to maintain the location; the other requirements of the postal universal service regulation in this respect must be complied with. The Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology may request the submission of documents to prove compliance with these criteria and also allow them to be verified by experts. If these criteria are not met or if the required evidence is not submitted, the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology may prohibit the closure of a post office in a modest manner. "

11. § 6 reads:

" Reserved Postal Service

§ 6 (1) The provision of postal services for personally complained letter mail up to a weight of 50 grams is in principle reserved for the Austrian Post.

(2) withdrawn from the

1.		outgoing cross-border correspondence,
2.		Consignments whose remuneration is at least two and a half times the standard remuneration of a domestic mail item of the post,
3.		the exchange of documents,
4.		Consignments, with written communications or other messages transported by the sender himself or by a representative of the sender, provided that the transport is not carried out on behalf of several senders or consignees;
5.		direct advertising; however, only those direct advertising which is sent as a personally objectionable broadcast (unpacked and unsealed), as such is clearly recognizable and does not contain any further individualisation in addition to the address field and
6.		Accompanying documents relating to a shipment of goods.

(3) Any further limitation of the reserved area shall be in accordance with the EU Directive, in any case not before 1 January 2009.

(4) The reserved postal service shall ensure the permanent provision of the nationwide universal service. "

12. § 9 reads:

" General terms and conditions for the reserved postal service and the universal service

§ 9. (1) The operator has to issue general terms and conditions for the reserved postal service. These terms and conditions shall be subject to approval by the regulatory authority. They shall be submitted to the Authority at least two months prior to the intended publication.

(2) The authorisation shall be refused if:

1.		Users and market needs are not adequately covered,
2.		the quality of the service provision or the appropriateness of the charges are not sufficiently ensured; and
3.		the terms and conditions are contrary to mandatory law.

(3) The regulatory authority shall be entitled to request information on all circumstances necessary for the approval of terms and conditions. Their organs or those of their agents shall be entitled to inspect the business records of the operator for this purpose.

(4) The universal service operator shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the regulations adopted pursuant to this Act, adopt general conditions of business for the universal service. These services must be regulated and the charges laid down should be laid down. The general terms and conditions for universal service shall be communicated to the regulatory authority on publication. Section 9 (3) shall apply mutatily.

(5) The general terms and conditions shall be published by the operator in a suitable form. They also have to regulate when they enter into force. The users do not exclusively favor changes to the General Terms and Conditions and newly issued general terms and conditions shall enter into force at the earliest two months after publication. "

13. § 10 reads:

" Charges for the reserved postal service and the universal service, cost accounting system

§ 10. (1) The fees for the reserved postal service are to be regulated in the terms and conditions. The fees shall be subject to approval by the regulatory authority. The approval may also be granted in the form of tariff developments (price-cap procedures); special tariffs may also be provided for.

(2) The charges for the reserved postal service and the universal service shall be applied to all users in the same way. The application of a uniform remuneration for the universal service does not preclude the right of the operator of the universal service to make individual price agreements with users. The criteria for such price fixing shall be reported to the regulatory authority and shall be published in an appropriate form; they shall be applied to all users in the same way and shall be in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination.

(3) The charges for the reserved postal service and the universal service shall be designed in such a way that they are, in any event, uniform, generally affordable and cost-oriented. By regulation, the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology can lay down the more detailed rules on the design of these charges.

(4) Universal service providers shall have separate accounts in their internal cost accounting systems at least for each service of the reserved area on the one hand and for the non-reserved services on the other hand. In the case of the accounts for the non-reserved services, a clear distinction should be made between services belonging to the universal service and other services. Internal cost accounting systems shall operate on the basis of uniformly applied and objectively justifiable cost accounting principles.

(5) By means of a Regulation, the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology may establish the more detailed provisions on the design of the cost accounting systems as set out in paragraph 4 and on the reporting obligations to the regulatory authority.

(6) Universal service operators shall submit the annual accounts to an independent auditor for consideration and publish them. "

14. In accordance with § 10 is inserted:

" Review of charges not subject to approval

§ 10a. Where the regulatory authority is aware of facts justifying the assumption that unauthorised charges for a universal service operator do not comply with the standards laid down in Section 10, it shall initiate a review of charges and to communicate this to the universal service operator.

(2) The regulatory authority shall be entitled to request information on all circumstances relating to charges. For this purpose, the institutions or the representatives of their representatives shall also be entitled to inspect the business records of the operator.

(3) If the regulatory authority finds that the charges do not comply with the standards laid down in Section 10, it shall require the universal service operator to adapt the charges without delay to the above-mentioned standards. This request shall be published on the home page of the regulatory authority.

(4) In the absence of an adjustment as required by paragraph 3, the regulatory authority shall prohibit the contested conduct and declare the charges ineffective. "

15. § 11 (1), (2) and (3) are:

" (1) In order to advise the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology as a regulatory authority in the approval of terms and conditions of business and charges for the reserved postal service, the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology Technology to form a price commission.

(2) The Presidency shall be chaired by a representative appointed by the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology. In addition, the following are to be sent to the price commission:

1.		a representative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs;
2.		A representative of the Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection (Office for Consumer Protection);
3.		a representative of the Federal Chamber of Labour and
4.		a representative of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

(3) The representatives of the Federal Ministries shall be ordered by the relevant Federal Ministers to appoint the other representatives of the above-mentioned bodies. A substitute member is to be ordered for each representative. The activity is an unrested honorary office. "

16. According to § 14 shall be 3. Section inserted:

" 3. Section

Postal services

General requirements, notification requirement

§ 15. (1) Everyone is entitled to offer postal services outside the reserved postal service (§ 6) in compliance with the statutory provisions.

(2) The service provider shall indicate the intended provision of a postal service as well as changes and the termination of the service prior to the taking up, modification or termination of the regulatory authority. The advertisement shall be made in writing or electronically. It shall contain information on the service provider, on the type of service and on any operational characteristics. Services in the field of universal service are to be described as such. By regulation, the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology can set the more detailed information on the content and form of the ad.

The regulatory authority shall publish, at least once a year, the list of postal services displayed, together with the name of the service providers.

General Terms and Conditions for Services in the Universal Service Area

§ 16. (1) providers of postal services have to adopt general terms and conditions for services in the universal service area, to describe the services offered and to determine the charges provided for this purpose. This shall be made available in a suitable form.

(2) These General Terms and Conditions for Services in the Universal Service Area shall be transmitted to the regulatory authority upon publication; Section 9 (3) shall apply mutatily.

(3) Users shall not enter into force at the earliest two months after publication, and the universal service conditions for universal service provision shall not be exclusively favourable to users.

Obligations of providers of a postal service

§ 16a. (1) Providers of a postal service shall have the appropriate means to ensure that employees in the delivery service can be assigned to the company. They shall also ensure, by means of appropriate labelling, that the postal items which they receive may be assigned to their company.

(2) Providers of a postal service shall ensure that consignments with personal handover and parcels that cannot be delivered to the recipient are deposited for collection by the recipient. The location of the deposit shall not be unreasonably far from the receiving address; it shall also have appropriate opening hours.

(3) Postal service providers have to set up a complaint management system so that users can make dispute or complaint cases.

(4) providers of postal services shall specify quality and quality standards in the general terms and conditions of services in the universal service sector. In addition, they have to regulate the postings of mail, the return of undeliverable items and the understanding in case of failed delivery attempt. Users shall be informed of the measures required in paragraphs 2 to 4 in an appropriate form. In addition, this information shall be reported once a year to the regulatory authority on 1 March each year.

Universal service provider

§ 16b. The provisions of this section shall also apply to the universal service operator in accordance with § 5 of this Act, which provides for postal services other than those provided for in Section 2. "

17. § 19 (2), first sentence reads:

"The Austrian Post shall be entitled to issue postmarks with surcharge."

18. § 21 deleted.

18a. § 25 reads:

" Postal authorities

§ 25. (1) Postal authorities are the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology as the highest postal authority, as well as the post office, which is subordinate to him, as the postal authority I. Instance.

(2) Regulatory authority within the meaning of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service and in the sense of this Directive Federal law is the Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology, from 1. Jänner 2008 shall be the regulatory authority in accordance with § 25a; until that date RTR-GmbH may be used for the administrative support of the regulatory authority against cost replacement. "

18b. According to § 25, the new § 25a is inserted:

" Regulatory Authority

§ 25a. (1) The regulatory authority is the Telekom-Control-Commission (§ 116 TKG 2003) and the Broadcasting and Telekom Regulatory GmbH.

(2) For the purpose of post-regulation, a second Senate is formed at the Telekom-Control-Commission, to which a member with knowledge in the field of postal services belongs instead of the member with relevant technical knowledge (§ 118 para. 1 TKG 2003). The appointment of this member and the corresponding replacement member shall be effected in accordance with the provisions of the Telecommunications Act 2003 and shall be in line with the term of the Telekom-Control-Commission.

(3) RTR-GmbH, under the leadership of the managing director for the telecommunications department, has to act as the business apparatus of the Telekom-Control-Commission in postal matters and, in addition, to carry out all the tasks that are carried out in the Postal Law and in the regulations of the regulatory authority adopted pursuant to this Act, provided that it does not have the responsibility of the Telekom-Control Commission. § 6 KOG shall apply with the proviso that the supervision of the activities of RTR-GmbH in the postal sector shall be the responsibility of the Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology.

(4) Unless otherwise determined by this federal law, the procedural provisions of the 2003 Telecommunications Act, in particular § 121 (5) TKG 2003, shall also apply to proceedings of RTR GmbH and the Telekom Control Commission in postal matters.

(5) The Telekom-Control Commission is responsible for

1.		the approval of terms and conditions and charges pursuant to § § 9 and 10
2.		the review of unauthorised charges in accordance with § § 4 and 10a
3.		The setting of supervisory measures in accordance with § 27 and measures pursuant to § 10a.

(6) To 1. January 2009 bears the costs of the regulatory authority of the Federal Government. Tasks and funds from the postal sector shall be carried out and shown separately from RTR-GmbH in a separate accounting circuit or in a cost-effective way. "

19. § 26 (3) reads:

"(3) The supreme postal authority shall be responsible for legal remedies against the proceedings of the postal office, unless the competence of an independent administrative body is given."

(20) In § 26, the following is added as subsection (4):

" (4) The regulatory authority shall be responsible for:

1.		the approval of terms and conditions of business and charges pursuant to § § 9 and 10;
2.		the review of charges which are not subject to authorisation. § 10a;
3.		the publication of the list of displayed postal services in accordance with. § 15 and
4.		The setting of supervisory measures in accordance with § 27 and measures in accordance with § 4 and § 10a. "

21. § 27 reads:

" Supervisory measures

§ 27. (1) Supervisory measures shall be considered as follows:

1.		surveys and investigations into the review of the universal service;
2.		Modest orders to remedy the performance of the universal service but also in individual cases; such contracts may relate in particular to the coverage of the universal service, to the density of the the points of departure and access and the frequency of pickup and delivery; they may also be adopted only with regard to individual universal services (products); a reasonable period of time shall be set in order to remedy such deficiencies;
3.		the modest reduction of planned or already taken measures as a whole or on a case-by-case basis if it is to be feared that the provision of the universal service will be jeopardised;
4.		Modest provisional suspension of planned measures if there is reason to believe that the obligations under this federal law or a regulation adopted pursuant to this Federal Act are not complied with;
5.		a modest transfer of the reserved postal service to another operator;
6.		a modest reduction in the provision of a postal service if the obligations under this Federal Act are not fulfilled, despite the request of the Authority, the Authority having regard to the adequacy of the measure with regard to its to take account of the economic impact on the provider of the postal service.

The universal service operator and the providers of other postal services shall be required to provide the regulatory authority, upon request, with the information necessary for the enforcement of this law and the relevant international rules. . To this end, the regulatory authority or the authorized representative of the regulatory authority shall also be entitled to inspect the business records.

(3) The regulatory authority may, in a modest way, make arrangements for the implementation of the rights and obligations which may be applied to it, in particular under this Federal Act. The persons concerned shall be obliged to comply with such arrangements. "

22. In § 28 it has instead of "operators of the universal service or the reserved postal service." to be read "Operator of a postal service."

22a. § 28a reads:

" Dispute settlement

§ 28a. (1) Without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, service providers, users and advocates of interest may be subject to dispute or complaint cases which have not been satisfactorily resolved with a provider of a postal service, to the regulatory authority . The regulatory authority shall seek a friendly solution or inform the parties of its view of the case. The service providers are obliged to participate in such proceedings and to provide all information necessary for the assessment of the facts and to submit the necessary documents.

(2) The regulatory authority shall lay down guidelines for the implementation of the procedure provided for in paragraph 1, in particular where appropriate time limits are to be determined for the termination of the procedure. The Directives shall be published in a suitable form. "

23. § 29 (1) reads:

" Administrative Penalty Provisions

§ 29. (1) An administrative surrender is committed and is punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 euros, who

1.		Contrary to § 4, the universal service is not or is not properly provided;
2.		contrary to § 4 (5), an administrative measure (under-sawing) is not followed;
3.		Provides reserved postal services in breach of § 6;
4.		contrary to § 9 (3) and § 10a (2) of the regulatory authority or to the non-inspection of the regulatory authority by its authorised representative;
5.		Contrary to § 9 (4) and § 16 (2), the general terms and conditions are not communicated to the regulatory authority;
6.		Contrary to § 9 (4) and § 16 (1), no general terms and conditions are issued which do not describe services or which do not determine the intended fees;
7.		it does not indicate, publish or not apply to all users in the same way, contrary to Article 10 (2), criteria for price fixing by the regulatory authority;
8.		Contrary to § 14, no brick-and-brick system is constructed or not in order to ensure that an existing house-briphor-plant meets the requirements of § 14;
9.		Contrary to § 15, services are not or are not fully displayed;
10.		Contrary to Section 16a (1), it does not ensure that employees can be assigned in the delivery service accordingly or not to ensure that transported mailings can be assigned to the company;
11.		Contrary to Article 16a (2), it is not ensured that the postal items referred to therein can be deposited;
12.		Contrary to § 16a (3), no complaints management is set up;
13.		Contrary to Article 16a (4), the criteria laid down therein are not regulated in the General Terms and Conditions, the users are not informed or the information is not transmitted to the regulatory authority;
14.		, contrary to § 20 of the postmark, uses, uses or images the imprints of postmarks;
15.		Orders in accordance with Section 27 (1) do not comply within the time limit set or do not comply with orders pursuant to Section 27 (3);
16.		is contrary to a regulation adopted pursuant to this Federal Act or to a communication issued pursuant to this Federal Act. "

(24) In § 29, the previous paragraphs 3 and 4 are referred to as paragraphs 5 and 6 and are inserted as new paragraphs 3 and 4:

" (3) The Authority may inform and refer to pledges which violate the obligations under this Federal Act and apply them to establish the statutory state within a reasonable period of time determined by it. In doing so, it shall draw attention to the legal consequences of such a request.

(4) It is not necessary to punish them for administrative surrender pursuant to Section 29 (1) if they establish the legal status within the time limit set by the authority. "

25. § 36 reads:

" Enforcement

§ 36. (1) The Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology is responsible for the enforcement of this federal law, except for § 30. In the enforcement of § 22, he has the agreement with the Federal Minister for National Defense and in the enforcement of § 27 (4) last sentence to establish the agreement with the Federal Minister for Home Affairs.

(2) The Federal Minister of Justice shall be entrusted with the enforcement of § 30. "

26. The provisions of § 37 (1) to (3) shall be added to § 31 as paragraphs 4 to 6; § 37 shall not enter into force.

27. In § 31, new paragraphs 7 and 8 are added:

" (7) § 2, § 4, § 6, § 9, § 10, § 10a, § 11, § 15, § 16, § 16a, § 25, § 28, § 29, § 36, as well as the title of the 2nd section and the orders relating to § 21 and § 37 in the version of the Federal Law BGBl. I n ° 2/2006 shall enter into force on 1 March 2006.

(8) § 25a and § 28a are 1. Jänner 2008 in force. "

Fischer

Bowl