It’s the end of red stamp. As of January 1, it will no longer be possible to buy this stamp at your post office, replaced by a digital letter. And if you don’t want to use the dematerialized service, the service will be slower and more expensive than before. Explanations.
• What happens to the red stamp?
The emblematic red stamp, for priority letters delivered the next day, will be abolished on January 1, 2023 by La Poste. The classic adhesive stamp is over: now it will be replaced by a dematerialized version, called “red electronic letter”. An “e-Letter” a little more expensive than before: this new express mail service will cost 1.49 euros, compared to 1.43 euros for the future ex-red stamp.
“The red letter is now tending to disappear” and “the means to produce it are becoming disproportionate”, justifies Philippe Dorge, deputy director general of La Poste, about bfm tv. While households were still sending 45 priority letters per year in 2010, they only sent five in 2021. Above all, this strategic shift will allow La Poste to make significant savings.
• How does the red “e-Letter” work?
Previously, if you needed to send urgent mail, all you had to do was stamp it with a red stamp and mail it. You will now have to go to the laposte.fr site to send it online (or via an automaton at a post office). The mail will be printed at an agency close to the recipient, before being distributed. If it was sent before 20:00, it will be distributed the next day. Note: documents cannot exceed three sheets.
• What will those who don’t have a computer or can’t move do?
The new dematerialized version of the priority letter risks excluding people who do not have a computer or who do not have sufficient computer skills, particularly older people. The digital divide is far from trivial in France: according to a 2019 Insee study, 8 million French people did not have Internet access at home.
La Poste explains that you can go directly to a post office with your paper mail to be assisted by a postman, who will scan the mail with a mobile phone. But this solution poses a problem for people who can’t travel or live far from a postal agency, especially in rural areas where many have been closed in recent years.
• Will postal workers be able to read the mail?
A classic letter, made of paper, is only seen by the recipient; in the case of digital mail, the situation is not necessarily the same. If the mail is sent online via the Swiss Post website, the machines will do the printing and inserting. La Poste has promised “safe spaces” accessible only “for authorized personnel”.
But that questions the confidentiality of mail when you have to go to a post office, because you don’t have a computer, for example. In this case, it is a Post Office employee who will be in charge of scanning the mail and therefore will be able to see your correspondence. La Poste ensures that mail will be scanned “in front of the customer” and that its employees will respect confidentiality.
Also, should we fear the possible piracy of correspondence? Once printed, the mail will be stored for one year in the group’s data centers so that the sender can access it in the event of a claim. La Poste wants to be reassuring by evoking “secure” and “France-based” data centers and ensuring compliance with GDPR regulations.
• Can we still use our red stamps?
Some unused red stamps may still be lying around in a wallet or drawer. No need to throw them away: they will still be valid after January 1, 2023. But these old stamps can no longer be used to send a priority letter: after January 1, a letter stamped with a red stamp will be delivered three days later, as well as with a green seal.
• What happens to the green stamp?
The green stamp will not disappear on January 1st. But mail prepaid with a green stamp will now be delivered in three days, instead of two days before. A slower service, but which remains at the same price: 1.16 euros for a letter of up to 20 grams.
• But how do you quickly send an important document?
The arrival of the “red electronic letter” marks the end of paper mail delivered the next day. If you want to send a letter and it arrives the next morning, now you will have no choice but to use this dematerialized service. Correos has launched the “red electronic letter” for “residual needs” in case of emergency, acknowledges Philippe Dorge on BFMTV.
Since the “Red e-Letter” is a digital service, it is not possible to send original documents, such as a paper form or a bank check. For this, it will be necessary to use the new turquoise seal, officially the “Lettre service plus”. The latter will be distributed over two days and will cost 2.85 euros per letter of up to 20 grams, a price double that of the red stamp.
Mail tracking is automatically integrated into this new “turquoise stamp”, a service that was previously optional for the red stamp. You can also post from your own mailbox (but you will need to use your account on the laposte.fr site). There is still certified mail to send important documents, but the delivery time has been extended to three days.
Source: BFM TV
