Anyone wanting to send a simple letter will now be invited to write directly on the La Poste website for their document to then be printed and delivered the next day.
A row in France is brewing over retirement but it’s not what you think, reports Euronews.
On 1 January 2023 the iconic ‘timbre rouge’ - or red stamp - clocked off for good and the policy to abolish it has stirred up controversy in the republic.
The timbre rouge has long guaranteed next day delivery with La Poste but will now disappear due to increased running costs and the fact that fewer people are using the French postal service to send mails.
Instead of receiving an icon of French public life, a new digital ‘e-lettre rouge’ will be available at the cost of €1.49. Anyone wanting to send a simple letter will now be invited to write directly on the La Poste website for their document to then be printed and delivered the next day.
The changes take place against a backdrop of shifting figures for La Poste. Since 2008 the number of timbre rouge postal items has reduced fourteen-fold while the service eyes the lucrative uptake in parcel delivery available due to e-commerce.
