PostNL is putting up the price of letters and parcel post across the board, but well below the maximum allowed by the Dutch consumers authority ACM.

The price of a stamp for a domestic letter or card will rise four cents to 91 cents while a Christmas card heading abroad will be €1.50, a rise of five cents, the company said on Monday.

Parcel prices will also rise for the first time in five years, with a small packet now costing a basic €7.25, rather than €6.95. The ACM had given PostNL the green light to put up prices by almost 15%.

‘The rise has been softened, in line with previous years,’ Resi Becker, director of Mail Nederland, said.

News of the increases comes as PostNL publishes its third-quarter figures, which show a further 10% reduction in addressed mail and 11% rise in parcel deliveries.

PostNL is currently in the process of merging with Sandd, which focuses mainly on the bulk business market.

Although the ACM had ruled earlier this year the merger could not go ahead, the two companies successfully appealed to junior economic affairs minister Mona Keijzer. She has agreed to back the merger because it is in the public interest.