The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has decided to definitively close the monitoring file opened on Correos, after verifying that the public postal company has fully satisfied the sanction of 3.3 million euros and has complied with all imposed requirements.
The Competition authority initiated a sanctioning file against Correos in 2011 for abuse of its dominant position in the wholesale market for access to the public postal network and in the retail market for administrative notifications, due to an "unjustified" refusal to continue providing said services under the conditions set by the regulations.
As a consequence, in 2013, a fine of 3.3 million euros was imposed and a specific period of surveillance was opened. Following the review of the case by the National High Court and the Supreme Court, Correos finally paid the sanction on March 5, 2025, and with this, the CNMC now considers that period of supervision concluded.
"In view of the final report issued by the Directorate of Competition, it can be concluded that Correos has complied with the resolution of April 22, 2013, both in relation to the cessation of the conduct declared to be an infringement and the full payment of the pecuniary sanction finally set," states the CNMC in its latest resolution on this matter.
In particular, Competition has found that Correos temporarily extended the discounts of the Universal Postal Service (SPU) to notifications processed by private operators, who have confirmed that they currently have effective access to the network under the agreed conditions.
Thus, at this time, the provision of the administrative notification service is structured through two contractual modalities: on the one hand, the network access contract for sending registered mail, and on the other hand, the contract for services not included in the SPU, relating to delivery management, acknowledgment of receipt, and, where applicable, SICER and PEE.
The different economic conditions in force for each of these types of services offered by Correos are detailed in the copies of the contracts signed with one of these postal operators, which the company attached, as an example, as an annex to its response brief.