Argentina: The Government announced the deregulation of the postal service to achieve “more competition and better security”

Days after confirming the deregulation of ramp service at airports following a wild strike that affected thousands of passengers at Aeroparque, the Government announced this Sunday that will move in the same direction with the postal service.

“The government has made the decision to deregulate the postal service. With this measure we will achieve more competition, greater digitalization and better security in postal matters. God bless the Argentine Republic. End,” the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, reported on social networks.

The Argentine Post Office was one of the companies targeted by the Government to carry out a strong adjustmentafter the Senate removed it from those that were initially included in the Basis Law for its “partial privatization or concession.”

For now, the official announcement It does not imply advancing the privatization of the state-owned Correo Argentino. What was announced is a deregulation process, which enables new players to sign up to provide this service. As part of these changess take away from the state company the exclusivity it had until now to send letters, documents or telegrams, among other functions.

The Ministry of Deregulation, headed by Federico Sturzenegger, issued a statement detailing: “With the aim of continue promoting free competition and the elimination of bureaucratic decisions that restrict the supply of goods and services, “The Government deregulated the postal service and postal operators, by establishing new guidelines for the exercise of their activity.”

The objectives of the decree, which It was published this Monday in the Official Gazette, are “to promote transparency, simplification, digitalization and greater security of the service.” This reform was worked on jointly between the Ministry of Deregulation and Transformation of the State and the Secretariat of Innovation, Science and Technology of the Nation.

From these changes, to be a postal operator “Legal entities must register with the application authority in a simple, electronic, free and declarative manner. Registration will be done only once at the beginning of the activity and you will be able to automatically start your activities 5 days from the date of your registration. “Such registration will constitute sufficient authorization to carry out the activity.”

“Postal operators that develop activities in the local and international postal market may “set with complete freedom the staffing, the modality, the types of services provided, the equipment, means of transport and premises required for their activity.”indicates the statement. “They will be able to provide letters, documents, telegrams, reliable communications and postal orders.”

The copies and proof of delivery to the recipients of the telegram and document letter are enabled to be in digital format, as is the backup. In turn, identity verification can be carried out via RENAPER or other means of remote verification.

“The overregulation of postal activity has generated barriers to entry into the market, in such a way that competition is restricted, leading to poorer quality service and higher prices.”. Therefore, the lists of excessive requirements to carry out the activity and the records that imply greater bureaucracy and less transparency are eliminated,” the text states.

“With this decision all vestiges of postal dominance and exclusivity granted to state postal companies are eliminated referring to the sending of document letters, telegrams and parcels of up to 50 kilos, by opening up competition and facilitating access for other operators,” they stated.

In addition, human beings will be allowed to offer the Urban Courier service, with or without a vehicle, in short periods and short distances.

Since 2003, Correo Argentino has been in the hands of the State. That year it was nationalized by then-president Néstor Kirchner, in the midst of the conflict with the Macri family, who had taken charge of the company in the 90s when it was privatized. In 2001 the company entered into preventive bankruptcy.

It is the official provider of the national and international public postal service. It employs 15,000 workers and has 1,500 branches throughout the country. In addition to distributing correspondence, he is in charge of all the logistics in the elections and hiring the company that carries out the provisional scrutiny.

The company had a deficit greater than $70 billion in 2023 and the Nation sent more than $90,000 million in 2024 to advance with the voluntary retirement plan.

For example, last May, its president Camilo Baldini “stepped on the accelerator” and managed to get 2,000 employees to accept voluntary retirementwhile another 1,100 had their contracts that expired in the previous five months not renewed. In July, meanwhile, the company had fired more than 4,000 employees and closed 100 branches in the province of Buenos Aires.

As detailed on its website, Correo Argentino, a state company with more than 1,400 branches and postal units throughout the country, provides the Universal Basic Service (SBU), to which it is obliged by law and which involves reaching the entire national territory, frequently and at an affordable price.

Last Friday, the Government made progress in deregulating the ramp service at airports throughout the country, thus taking away the monopoly of the state company Intercargo.