A request by ailing Dutch privatised postal service PostNL for a €68 million government handout has been rejected by the cabinet in view of “possible changes to the postal market”, broadcaster NOS reported on Friday.

PostNL says declining demand means it is no longer able to meet its legal obligations to empty postboxes and deliver post five days a week, or six deliveries a week in the case of medicine and death notices.

It is also required to ensure 95% of domestic post is delivered the next day.

The company has already cut the number of delivery days from six to five and is pressing for longer delivery times. It is also removing 300 of its 11,000 orange post boxes because they are underused.

The company, which is publishing its annual figures on Monday, said it needed the €68 million to maintain delivery services this year and the next.

The economic affairs ministry has been quick to reject the request, saying extra money “is not on the cards at the moment” because the cabinet is still pondering the future of the postal market and that state support is not “a preferred measure at any rate”.

PostNL said in a reaction that as long as the cabinet has not made a decision about what the postal service will look like, it will need support.

“While we wait for political decisions about the postal market, the costs for maintaining the current level of service are mounting,” the company’s statement said.