PostNL, the privatised Dutch postal service, has asked the government for financial support to be able to continue providing a high-quality postal service. The volume of mail fell again in the second quarter and that is pressuring company finances, PostNL said.

The company is required by law to ensure a network of letter boxes emptied five days a week and to deliver post five days a week, six days a week for deliveries of medicine and death notices. It is also required to ensure 95% of domestic post is delivered the next day.

But the 95% delivery target has not been achieved since 2019 and the company said last week it planned to remove a further 300 post boxes from town and village streets. It is also calling for longer delivery times.

“Ten years ago we delivered three items of post per day per household,” chief executive Herna Verhagen told reporters. “Today we deliver three a week, and that means the delivery worker is passing a lot of houses before putting more post through a letterbox.”

The government is already looking into PostNL’s calls for a longer delivery deadline – first to 48 hours and then 72.

But until a decision is taken the state needs to come up with cash to “safeguard a reliable, accessible and affordable postal service, which is vital for Dutch society and provides job security to thousands of people,” she said.

PostNL made the plea for government support at the presentation of its Q2 figures. The company made net profit of €14 million in the second three months of the year, which is €4 million up on the same period last year. The volume of parcel post rose 6% while letter deliveries were down a further 6%.