Dutch mail delivery firm PostNL has said it will press ahead with plans to relax delivery targets and aim to deliver letters and cards within 48 hours rather than 24, despite opposition in parliament.

PostNL’s mail chief Maurice Unck told the AD in an interview on Friday that the company has no choice. “We have two options,” he said. “Either more subsidy or a 48-hour delivery time.”

Earlier this week eonomic affairs minister Dirk Beljaarts retracted a decision to allow PostNL to take two days rather than one to deliver letters because of MPs’ opposition to the plan.

The company claims that declining volumes of post have made it uneconomic to run a 24-hour delivery service. Parliament’s position is “disappointing” but at least it shows people do still care about the service, Unck told the paper.

“Nevertheless, I don’t understand parliament,” he said. “They want to wait for new research from the regulator but so much research has already been done. And it shows most people don’t have any problem with day-later delivery.”

The current rules date from 2009 and since then the volume of post has fallen 70%. “The average household now receives four items of post a week, but 20 years ago it was three per day,” Unck said. “That has had an enormous impact on the way we operate.”

PostNL will carry on with its plans to prepare for longer delivery times for private mail from 2026 and will introduce a 48-hour pledge for business mail from January 1, he said. Business mail is not covered by the current regulations.

“Parliament has clicked on the pause button,” he said. “But we hope we can convince a majority and get the green light for our plan early next year.”