PGP has signed a contract with PLAY for EPO correspondence handling

"The owner of the PLAY network is one of our longest-serving telecoms clients. We signed our first contract in 2008. The principle 'we grow with our customers' applies perfectly here. With the emergence of demand for postal services using state-of-the-art IT solutions, we have extended our existing cooperation with PLAY to include EPO." - says Witold Szczurek, President of the Management Board of PGP S.A.

The EPO is an ICT solution that replaces the former paper return receipt. Thanks to this innovative solution, the recipient signs on the electronic terminal and the information about the receipt of the correspondence is transferred in real time to the sender's IT system. The use of EPO allows postal processes to be shortened and automated, which translates into tangible benefits, especially for senders of bulk correspondence.

"Play is the leader in electronic invoicing. After signing an agreement with the Polish Postal Group, also traditional paper parcels sent against acknowledgement of receipt will be distributed in the most modern way possible. For our customers, this means above all certainty and a shorter delivery time, with full control of the delivery process guaranteed by the sender. It is also very important to simplify the entire logistics related to the preparation of correspondence, followed by fast feedback on delivery, which from February 2015 in PLAY will be transferred online to internal customer service and correspondence archiving systems." - said Andrzej Kulesza, Head of Revenue and Invoicing at Play.

In November 2014, the Polish Postal Group completed the implementation of Electronic Confirmation of Receipt in all courts of two appeals: the Krakow and Białystok ones. Nearly 1,000 deliverers equipped with electronic terminals work for 65 courts of both appeals, and advised correspondence can be collected in as many as 500 advisory points.

Thanks to the use of electronic terminals, the circulation of court correspondence after the introduction of the EPO is shorter by up to a dozen days. Time calculated from dispatch of correspondence from the Court to registration of the EPO acknowledgement in the Court's system:

• for parcels delivered (81% of volume) - average circulation time is 1.5 days
• for advised shipments, issued (15% of volume) - average circulation time 5 days
• for returned mail (wrong address ect.) (1%) - average circulation time 2.4 days
• for advised shipments not collected on time (3%) - average circulation time 19 days

Electronic Receipt Confirmation was also the winner of the Innovation of the Year 2014 competition. The EPO project was very highly rated by the competition's chapter as an innovation that has a very strong impact on the functioning of the market and customers of almost all sectors of the economy. The Innovation of the Year programme is carried out under the auspices of the Faculty of Technical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the FIRE Innovation Centre Foundation.

The Polish Postal Group is one of the technological leaders of the Polish postal market, providing delivery services in Poland and all countries belonging to the World Postal Union. In its delivery process, PGP uses the most modern sorting lines. The whole process is supported by an IT system that records the daily movement of parcels. This makes it possible to track them at each stage of distribution and allows for ongoing accounting of individual operations.

In December 2014, InPost - the largest private postal operator in Poland - finalised the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Polska Grupa Pocztowa SA. The companies integrated their operational structures and the formal acquisition of the shares was the final stage in the PGP acquisition process. This will increase the potential for InPost to handle correspondence, including public contracts. However, PGP will remain a separate company and a brand dedicated to business customers requiring advanced postal services. Recently, InPost has won tenders to handle the correspondence of the government's Shared Services Centre worth PLN 33 million and KRUS - valued at almost PLN 23 million. In addition, InPost, together with PGP, has been handling the correspondence of common courts and prosecutors' offices for a year - the two-year contract is worth almost PLN 500 million and covers 100 million items.

InPost and PGP offer attractive prices for postal services - up to 40% lower than the competition - and the highest delivery efficiency in the market - as much as 75% of registered mail is delivered directly to the addressee (without an advice note). The companies also record a higher on-time delivery of registered mail than the designated operator - 92% for D+3 letters and 97.5% for D+5 letters.