Published on the DR no. 51 (III Series), of 1 of March 2001.
Between the parties:
a) INSTITUTO DAS COMUNICAÇÕES DE PORTUGAL, hereafter called ICP;
b) CTT - CORREIOS DE PORTUGAL, S.A., hereafter called CTT;
under the terms of article 8, point 5 of Law no. 102/99, of July 26, and under the terms of clause 12 of the Universal Postal Service Concession Contract, of September 1, 2000, the present Convention is signed, subject to the following clauses:
SECTION I
Scope and definitions
Article 1
Scope of the Convention
1 - The present Convention sets and publicises the minimal service quality levels and parameters associated to the provision of the universal postal service provided by CTT, and covering the following services:
a) Reserved postal services;
b) Non-reserved postal services that form part of the universal service.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of the present Convention, the following definitions apply:
a) Concession contract - the concession contract of the universal postal service, signed between the Portuguese State and CTT, on September 1, 2000, under the terms of Decree-Law no. 448/99, of November 4;
b) Parcel Deliveries - small volumes containing merchandise or objects with or without commercial value, whose weight does not exceed 20 kg;
c) Sent Correspondence - written communication in a physical format of any nature and destined to be transported and delivered at the address indicated on the object itself or its wrapping, including direct mailings;
d) Postal Deliveries - includes sent correspondence, books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals and Parcel Deliveries;
e) Postal Service - the activity constituted by operations of acceptance, handling, transport and distribution of postal deliveries;
f) Universal postal service - composed of a Postal Service of sent correspondence, books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals up to 2kg in weight and Parcel Deliveries up to 20 Kg in weight, as well as a service of registered delivery and a postal delivery service with declared insured value, both of national and international scope;
g) Reserved services - those services provided on an exclusive basis by the universal service provider and including the following:
1) The postal service for sent correspondence, including direct mailings, whether or not priority services, whose price is less than five times the retail price for sending correspondence belonging to the first weight scale of the fastest standardised category, provided that its weight is under 350 g, either of national or international scope;
2) The postal service for sending registered correspondence and correspondence insured for a specific amount, including services to notify and service legal summons by post, within the same price and weight limits referred to in the previous point above, either of national or international scope;
h) Non-reserved services that form part of the universal postal service - include the provision of the following services:
1 - The postal service for sending correspondence, including direct mailings, whether or not priority services, whose weight is equal to or above 350 g and does not exceed 2 kg, or in the event of weighing below 350 g, its price is equal to or higher than five times the retail price of sent correspondence in the first standardised weight category for priority mail, either of national or international scope;
2 - The Postal Service for sending books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals weighing up to 2 kg, either of national or international scope;
3 - The Parcel Deliveries service, up to 20 kg in weight, either of national or international scope;
4 - The Postal Service of registered deliveries and deliveries of declared insured value, whose weight is equal to or above 350 kg, or whose price is equal to or higher than five times the retail price of sent correspondence in the first standardised weight category for priority mail, either of national or international scope.
SECTION II
CTT's Obligations
Article 3
CTT's Obligations
CTT is obliged to provide the postal services specified in article 4 of the agreement with the quality standards and indicators provided in the annex.
Article 4
Modalities of services
1 - For the purposes of application of this Convention the following modalities of postal services are considered to be covered by paragraph f) of article 2, in their diverse formats, weight categories and forms of provision:
a) Postal Service of Sent Correspondence in the modalities of Priority Mail and Non-Priority Mail;
b) Postal Service of sending books, catalogues, newspapers and other periodicals, including the Special Allowance Regime, applied for social and political obligations, to deliveries with pre-paid postage or provided within the framework of the agreement established with Press Associations;
c) Postal Service for sending Parcel Deliveries, in the modality of Non-Priority Delivery.
2 - To verify the quality of provision of the universal postal service, consideration is also to be made, for the purposes of application of this Convention, of the quality of attendance in Post Offices, measured by customer queuing times before attendance.
3 - In the case of creation or alteration by CTT of modalities of postal services, their inclusion within the present Convention will be subject to an agreement between both parties, which will be formalised via an addition to the present Convention.
4 - For the purposes of the terms of the previous point the creation or alteration of modalities of postal services should be previously communicated to the DGCC and ICP.
Article 5
Compliance with service quality levels
1 - The implantation of the average weighted variation of the prices of the reserved postal services, defined in the Price Convention, depends on compliance with the service quality levels specified in the annex to the present Convention.
2 - Non-compliance with the said service quality levels will affect the price variations referred to in point 1, under the terms and percentages contained in point 2 of the annex to the present Convention and will take effect on the prices in the year following that in which non-compliance took place.
3 - Situations of non-compliance resulting from application of the previous points are checked by ICP, after hearing CTT, for the purposes of reduction of the maximum variation of prices foreseen for the year following that in which non-compliance took place, under the terms and percentages of the annex to the present Convention.
Article 6
Deductions in the event of force majeure
1 - In the event of the occurrence of phenomena, whose development and evolution are clearly beyond the control of CTT, and which have an impact on CTT's service quality, the latter may request, for the purposes of calculation of the service quality indicators (SQI) contained in point 1 annex to the present Convention, deduction of the records for the time periods and geographical flows affected.
2 - The phenomena specified in the previous point, include situations of atmospheric disturbance, operational and labour disturbances experienced by CTT's suppliers and in general, any other disturbances that cause prejudice to the normal conditions of collection, handling, transport and distribution of postal correspondence. Any labour or operational disturbances that are exclusively internal to CTT are not included.
3 - The request to activate the deduction specified in point 1 should be presented by CTT, in writing, with well founded grounds, within a maximum of 60 days after the date on which the said phenomena or occurrences took place.
4 - ICP is responsible for deciding whether or not to consider the request specified in the previous point, and its decision should be notified to CTT within a maximum of 30 days after receipt of the request. In the case that it is decided to reject the request, due grounds must be provided for the decision. Irrespective of whether a request of deduction is presented or not, CTT is obliged to find the best alternatives during the period of crisis.
Article 7
Alteration of service quality standards and levels
1 - The service quality levels referred to in point 1 of article 5 are assessed in accordance with the present monitoring systems. Alterations to these systems may imply re-negotiation of quality levels, in the event that such alterations result in significant variations in the results obtained.
2 - The alterations specified in the previous point should be duly justified. In the event that they lead to agreement between both parties, they will be formalised by an addition to the present Convention.
3 - The service quality standards and levels contained in the annex to the present Convention may be renegotiated in the event of publication of norms by the European Committee for Standardisation on the service quality of postal services.
Article 8
Alteration of the methodologies for calculating service quality levels
1 - In order to ensure suitable monitoring of service quality, CTT is obliged to introduce the alterations that are recommended by ICP, as a result of audits on service quality indicators, provided that due grounds are presented for such recommendations.
2 - The methodologies for calculating service quality levels may be renegotiated in the event of publication of norms by the European Committee for Standardisation on the service quality of postal services.
SECTION III
Quality levels of the universal postal service
Article 9
Service quality indicators
1 - The service quality indicators (SQI) to be monitored in order to check the level of provision of the universal postal service, as well as the respective minimum acceptable levels (Min), target levels (Targ) and the relative importance (RI) of each SQI are those contained in point 1 of the annex to the present Convention.
2 - Taking into consideration the evolution of the service quality indicators seen during 2001, the effects of changing quality monitoring systems, the SQI and the levels specified in the previous point may have to be re-evaluated.
3 - The object of the previous point should be subject to an agreement between both parties, and the new SQI and agreed levels should be formalised through an addition to the present Convention.
Article 10
Supervision and Monitoring
1 - CTT will send quarterly reports to ICP, by the end of the month following each quarter, containing the evolution of the levels verified for the aforementioned SQI, thus enabling such levels to be monitored.
2 - In relation to the SQI1, SQI2 and SQI6 identified in point 1 of the annex to the present Convention, CTT also agrees to provide ICP with quarterly information on the quality levels obtained, broken down for the Mainland, Azores and Madeira.
3 - ICP may check such results through specific studies, whose methodology will be communicated to CTT. CTT will supply the statistical information necessary for the proper execution of such studies.
4 - In the event of divergence between the results obtained by ICP and CTT in relation to service quality levels, there will be room for discussion between both parties in order to clarify these issues. In the event of failure to reach a consensus, ICP's results will be used for application of the system specified in point 2 of annex to the present Convention.
Secção IV
Final terms
Article 11
Conflict resolution
Eventual conflict arising between both parties in terms of execution, interpretation, application or integration of the present Convention and the decisions taken under its terms will be resolved under the terms foreseen in the Concession contract.
Article 12
Validity
1 - The present Convention enters into force on January 1, 2001 and is valid for a 3-year period, renewable for an equal period of time, unless denounced by either party, with a minimum prior notice of 60 days before the end of its validity period.
2 - In the event that the Convention is denounced, the service quality levels resulting from it remain in force until a new Convention enters into force.
Lisbon, December 21, 2000
INSTITUTO DAS COMUNICAÇÕES DE PORTUGAL
CTT - CORREIOS DE PORTUGAL, SA
ANNEX
QUALITY INDICATORS OF THE UNIVERSAL POSTAL SERVICE
1 - The quality levels of the universal postal service specified in article 5, are as follows:
a) Conveyance time for non-priority mail (D+3);
Defined as the average percentage of letters sent by non-priority mail, which reach their destination 3 working days after being left at a mail reception point, as a proportion of all letters posted.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI1 | Conveyance time for Non-Priority Mail |
41.0 | 95.0 | 95.8 | 95.1 | 95.9 | 95.2 | 96.0 |
b) Conveyance time for Priority Mail (D+1);
Defined as the average percentage of letters sent by Priority Mail, which reach their destination 1 working day after being left at a mail reception point, as a proportion of all letters sent.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI2 | Conveyance time for Priority Mail | 24.0 | 92.0 | 93.0 | 92.1 | 93.1 | 92.2 | 93.2 |
c) Non-priority mail not delivered within 15 working days;
Defined as the number of letters sent by non-priority mail, not returned, which did not reach their destination 15 working days after being left at a mail reception point, per thousand letters.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI3 | Non-priority mail not delivered within 15 working days (per thousand letters) | 5.0 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.6 |
d) Priority Mail not delivered within 10 working days;
Defined as the number of letters sent by Priority Mail, not returned, which did not reach their destination within 10 working days after having been left at a mail reception point, per thousand letters.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI4 | Priority Mail not delivered within 10 working days(per thousand letters) | 3.0 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.6 |
e) Conveyance time for Newspapers, Books and Periodicals (D+3)
Defined as the average percentage of representative objects within the category of newspapers, books and periodicals that reach their destination up to 3 working days after being left at a mail reception point, as a proportion of all objects sent.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI5 | Conveyance time for Newspapers, Books and Periodicals | 16.0 | 95.0 | 95.8 | 95.0 | 95.9 | 95.0 | 96.0 |
f) Conveyance time for Non-Priority Parcels (D+3)
Defined as the average percentage of Parcel Deliveries sent in the modality of non-priority delivery that reach their destination up to 3 working days after being left at a mail reception point, as a proportion of all Parcel Deliveries sent.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI6 | Conveyance time for Non-Priority Parcels | 3.0 | 90.0 | 91.5 | 90.0 | 91.6 | 90.0 | 91.7 |
g) Waiting time at Post Offices
Defined as the average waiting time before being attended at a Post Office, as measured between the start of queuing and actual attendance. This indicator shall be measured in terms of the average recorded during the post offices' opening hours (average) and the average for the busiest hour during the day (peak hour), in terms of the supply of the services included in this Convention.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | ||||||
| N.º | Description | RI% | Min | Targ | Min | Targ | Min | Targ |
| SQI7 | Waiting time at Post Offices (minutes) - Average | 4.0 | 5:00 | 3:40 | 5:00 | 3:35 | 5:00 | 3:30 |
| Waiting time at Post Offices (minutes) - Peak hour | 4.0 | 8:00 | 4:40 | 8:00 | 4:35 | 8:00 | 4:30 | |
2 -The deduction activation procedure specified in article 5 is as follows:
2.1 - Deduction linked to the Overall Service Quality Indicator (OSQI)
The Overall Service Quality Indicator (OSQI) shall be calculated as follows:
a) classification on a scale from 0 to 100 for each SQI, in which 100 corresponds to fulfilment of the target, 0 to failure to attain the minimum level and scores from 0 to 100 correspond to intermediate classifications. The score will exceed 100, when the target has been exceeded, in proportion to the extent to which the target has been exceeded.
The following scores shall be deemed as failure to attain the minimum level:
. 0.1% less than the minimum level, when the SQI is expressed as a percentage;
. 0.1 second less than the minimum level, when the SQI is expressed in minutes.
b) multiplication of the classifications obtained in a) by the relative importance (RI) in the table;
If the overall indicator is 100 or more no deduction will be applied.
If it is less than 90 the full deduction shall be applied.
If the score is between 90 and 100, the deduction shall be applied proportionately.
2.2 - Deduction linked to failure to attain the minimum levels of each SQI.
When any SQI is below the minimum acceptable level, a percentage will be deducted from the overall variation limit envisaged in the Agreement, corresponding to the relative importance of the SQI (RI) multiplied by the maximum deduction.
If the OSQI is less than 90, the deductions linked to the various SQI shall not be applied.
2.3 - Applicable deduction
The final deduction shall be determined as follows:
a) If the OSQI is 100 or more, the deduction shall be the deduction linked to the non-compliance with various SQI;
b) If the OSQI is less than 100, the deduction shall be that which results from the combination of the deductions linked to non-compliance with the OSQI and the various SQI, up to a maximum of 1%.
