The CEO of DHL, Tobias Meyer, has launched a scathing critique of the German Federal Network Agency’s (Bundesnetzagentur) methods for handling consumer complaints regarding Deutsche Post’s delivery performance, a subsidiary of the DHL group. The agency regularly publishes complaint statistics, recently reporting approximately 23,000 submissions for the first half of 2025 – a record high.
Meyer argues that these statistics are fundamentally misleading and provide an inaccurate picture of the issues at hand. He claims Deutsche Post receives only a fraction of the complaints, preventing the company from fully understanding the underlying grievances. “A significant number of these objections seem entirely unrelated to the postal services we are legally obligated to provide under the Post Act” Meyer stated in an interview with “Welt am Sonntag”. He further expressed concern that the Post receives insight into only around five percent of complaints, deeming this a “regulatory problem.
The DHL CEO frames the agency’s approach as detrimental to public perception. “Ultimately, this form of communication doesn’t lead to improvements; it simply fosters the impression that nothing functions properly in Germany. This damages society” he warned. While acknowledging past shortcomings in Deutsche Post’s delivery service – specifically referencing unexpectedly high volumes and quality issues during the summer – Meyer insists these problems have now been resolved.
He attributes the current challenges in letter delivery to digitalization and the decline in mail volume, highlighting the company’s adoption of combined delivery of letters and packages as a response to these structural changes.
Beyond delivery quality, Meyer addressed the escalating issue of workload and physical strain on postal carriers, stemming from the weight of packages. Currently, German law permits packages up to 31.5 kilograms for shipping, a limit Verdi, the powerful postal workers’ union, is aggressively pushing to reduce to 20 kilograms.
“We unequivocally support a reduction in the weight limit” Meyer declared, placing the onus on politicians to enact legislative change swiftly. However, he admitted that there’s a distinct lack of consensus on this issue within the governing coalition. Meyer subtly accused competitors who oppose the reduction of exerting undue influence on certain parliamentary factions. “It is evident that some of our competitors, who do not want a reduction in the weight limit, have sufficiently influenced parts of the government” he asserted, signaling a potential lobbying battle brewing within the political landscape and highlighting the complex interplay between corporate interests, regulatory oversight and political maneuvering in Germany’s postal sector.