4. Measurement method

According to paragraph 3 of article 13 of the Postal Law, universal service providers must implement a system for measuring levels of quality of service actually provided, which must comply with rules that apply to the measurement of quality of universal service, namely intra-Community cross-border services, this measurement of levels of quality of service being carried out at least once a year by an independent external body.

In this field, an extensive work at standardisation level has been developed, specifically by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). CEN has drafted and developed standards on postal services, focusing on the measurement of the quality of service, in the scope of specific mandates that stem from the Postal Directive (Directive 97/67/EC, as amended by Directive 2008/6/EC) and that were granted by the European Commission.

In this context, where applicable, the measurement of quality of service indicators is in accordance with the respective published standards, as most recently updated.

**Table 6 - Measurement methods for quality of service indicators**
Quality of Service Parameters	Quality of Service Indicator		Measurement methodology
QSP 1 Transit time	QSI1	Transit time for standard mail (D+3)	Standard EN 14508:2003+A1:2007, on the measurement of transit time for non-priority mail.
	QSI2	Transit time for priority mail - Mainland (D+1)	Standard EN 13850:2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail.
	QSI3	Transit time for priority mail - MAM (D+2)	Standard EN 13850:2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail.
	QSI6	Transit time for newspapers and periodicals (D+3)	Must take into account Standard EN 14534:2003+A1:2007, on the measurement of the transit time of end-to-end services for bulk mail.
	QSI7	Transit time for intra-community cross-border mail (D+3)	Flows between Portugal and remaining 27 European Union Member States must be taken into consideration. Standard EN 13850/2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail, information used by the concessionaire being provided by the International Post Corporation (IPC), in the scope of the Unipost Monitoring System (UNEX).
	QSI9	Transit time for standard parcels (D+3)	Standard EN 13850:2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail, must be used as reference, duly adapted.
	QSI11	Transit time for registered mail (D+1)	Standard EN 13850:2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail, duly adapted.
QSP2 Loss and Substantial Delay (Reliability)	QSI4	Standard mail not delivered within 15 working days (per one thousand letters)	Technical Specification TS 14773:2004, on loss of priority mail, must be used as reference, duly adapted.
	QSI5	Priority mail not delivered within 10 working days (per one thousand letters)	Technical Specification TS 14773:2004, on loss of priority mail.
	QSI8	Transit time for intra-community cross-border mail (D+5)	Flows between Portugal and remaining 27 European Union Member States must be taken into consideration. Standard EN 13850:2012, on the measurement of transit time for priority mail, information used by the concessionaire being provided by the International Post Corporation (IPC), in the scope of the Unipost Monitoring System (UNEX).
QSP3 Waiting time	QSI10	Waiting time at post establishments (% of cases up to 10 minutes)	Waiting times must be measured based on a sample of observations over the year, which must be representative of the frequency and distribution of customer services provided (demand) at postal establishments over the day and week, as well as of the geographic distribution and of types of postal establishments.

Where standards are updated, their application for the purpose of QSI measurement requires a previous decision on the part of ICP - ANACOM, and relevant prior procedures must be put in place.

The calculation of QSI7 and QSI8 must take into consideration the levels of quality of the forwarding and reception flows, weighted by the proportion of traffic of each flow in the total of intra-community cross-border letter traffic, sent to and from Portugal as first class international mail, according to the following calculation methodology:

QSI7 = E_D+3 * e + R_D+3 * (1-e)
QSI8 = E_D+5 * e + R_D+5 * (1-e)

where:

E_D+3: Average percentage of intra-community cross-border letters, sent from Portugal as international first class mail, which reach their destination within 3 working days of being deposited at any mail reception point, taking as reference the total amount of letters conveyed;

R_D+3: Average percentage of intra-community cross-border letters, received in Portugal as international first class mail, which reach their destination within 3 working days of being deposited at any mail reception point, taking as reference the total amount of letters conveyed;

E_D+5: Average percentage of intra-community cross-border letters, sent from Portugal as international first class mail, which reach their destination within 5 working days of being deposited at any mail reception point, taking as reference the total amount of letters conveyed;

R_D+5: Average percentage of intra-community cross-border letters, received in Portugal as international first class mail, which reach their destination within 5 working days of being deposited at any mail reception point, taking as reference the total amount of letters conveyed;

e: Proportion of traffic of intra-community cross-border letters sent from Portugal as international first class mail, in the total of traffic of intra-community cross-border letters sent to and from Portugal as international first class mail, both (traffics) concerning the calendar year preceding that for which the indicator is being calculated.

The measurement of indicators is performed by bodies independent of CTT, under paragraph 3 of article 13 of the Postal Law, which are engaged by the concessionaire for this purpose. ICP-ANACOM must be informed, preferably in advance by the end of November each year, as regards the body chosen to perform the measurement of each indicator.