PostCom Switzerland Establishes Reporting Obligation for Food Delivery Service eat.ch

The Federal Postal Commission PostCom assesses the activities of the food delivery service eat.ch GmbH based in Zurich as postal activities and thus subject to reporting obligations under the Postal Act. In its determination issued on October 7, 2021, it further stipulates that eat.ch must register with it by November 1, 2021.

(Bern) For fair and sustainable competition, PostCom considers it central that all postal service providers are subject to its supervision and the relevant legislation. In the highly competitive market of courier and food delivery services, the non-registration of individual providers leads to competitive disadvantages for other companies. Another consequence is that the employees of such companies are not covered by a sectoral collective labor agreement and cannot invoke the protection of the regulation for minimum standards, which PostCom implemented in the postal sector at the beginning of 2019.

eat.ch Engages in Postal Activities

In the case of eat.ch GmbH, a company within the Just Eat Takeaway.com group, PostCom concluded that the company conducts postal activities in Switzerland in the form of a courier service in its own name and is therefore subject to reporting obligations under Art. 4 PG. When placing orders, the customer can generally decide whether to pick up the cooked dishes themselves at the restaurant or have them delivered. If the customer has their order delivered to a specific location, it constitutes a classic courier service, provided that eat.ch GmbH assumes responsibility for the delivery. For the delivery of meals, eat.ch utilizes a company owned by the group. This company is considered a subcontractor under postal legislation, as it makes deliveries on behalf of eat.ch GmbH but does not maintain direct business relationships with the restaurants.

Food Packages are Postal Shipments

Postal services refer on one hand to the processing of specific shipments and on the other hand to certain postal processes, such as acceptance and delivery. Providers who bear overall responsibility for postal processes towards the sender are subject to reporting obligations, while subcontractors are exempt from this obligation.

Food packages containing cold or hot dishes, whose final form allows for postal processing, namely collection, transportation, and delivery to clearly identifiable recipients, meet the criteria of a postal shipment. The nature of the contents is not relevant for the classification as a package.

The determination of the reporting obligation means that eat.ch must register with PostCom by November 1, 2021. The company can appeal against the decision within 30 days of notification at the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen.

Reporting Obligation

Any company that operates as a commercial postal service provider in its own name must register with PostCom within two months of starting operations. Postal service providers transport addressed packages up to 30 kg, addressed letters up to 2 kg, newspapers and magazines, as well as courier and express shipments. With revenues of 500,000 francs or more, they are subject to the ordinary reporting obligation, while those with revenues below 500,000 francs are subject to the simplified reporting obligation (cf. Art. 4 PG and Art. 3 ff. VPG).

Photo: @ eat.ch