The official mission of Česká pošta [Czech Post] is to be a trusted provider of quality services in the area of mediating information, payments and goods via both traditional and electronic means. “The Czech Post Office is not exactly foreigner-friendly. If you aren’t aware of the ticketing system, or inadvertently take a ticket for the wrong counter, you’ll need to wait – possibly a long time,” reads one of the reviews on Trip Advisor. Brno Expat Center has prepared a short guide for using the Czech postal services with confidence.
Czech Post (CP) is a state-funded postal company of the Czech Republic. It primary serves the Czech Republic but also delivers abroad. Among the various services the CP provides, the most important ones are posting and delivery of letters and parcels. The basic legislation governing the provision of postal services is Act no. 29/2000 Coll., on postal services.
Posting and delivery of a letter
When sending a letter you have several options. Mostly you will do with either an ordinary mail (obyčejný dopis) or registered mail (doporučený dopis). As the name suggests, ordinary letters do not require anything else than a stamp. You can then hand them in at the nearest post office or post box. With registered letters, though, you will have to fill in a sumbission form (podací lístek), which you then submit together with the letter at the post office. After handing in the letter you will get the sumbission form back with a stamp on it proving that the letter has been sent. The registered mail is used mainly when communicating with authorities or when you need a proof of having sent a letter.
Aside from ordinary and registered mail you can send a business letter (obchodní psaní, comes in handy when sending letters in bulk), insured letter (cenné psaní, used for sending valuables), EMS (express mail service; next day delivery guaranteed to arrive no later than at 2 pm), and ordinary and registerd mail for the blind (obyčejná a doporučená slepecká zásilka). All these can be used for both within the Czech Republic and abroad.
Delivery of a letter depends on the type of the delivered letter. Ordinary letters are usually dropped in your postbox whilst registered letters and insured letters must be handed over in person. If you are not at home at the time of the delivery you will find a notice in your postbox. With that notice you need to go to a specific post office (you will find information about it on the notice) and pick your letter up. If you lose the notice you can instead show your ID which has to bear the same address as the one on the letter. You can even send someone else to pick up your letter, as long as they have an authenticated power of attorney or a special recipient card. The recipient card enables the authorised person to accept consignments and money order amounts on behalf of the addressee (the only exception being when the letter is to be delivered to the addressee only). You can apply for the card at any post office or online.
Posting and delivery of a parcel
Similar to the letter you have several options when posting a parcel. You can choose between an ordinary and registered parcel (used for sending smaller items), EMS, insured parcel, oversize parcel, delivery to the post office, delivery to hand, and express delivery (guaranteed same-day delivery if posted before 10 am in all regional capitals or between regional capitals and Prague).
It is important to pack the parcel correctly to prevent any damage. You can buy cardboard boxes and bubble wraps at any post office.
The Czech Post also provides tracking applications and contacts on all post offices.
Title picture: Pavel Ševela [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
This article was originally published on BEC website. Brno Daily is authorized by its authors to reuse its contents.
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