Post boxes: Letters need to be posted during opening hours.

Supreme Administrative Court decides about administrative proceedings with deadline.

The actual time collection of the post boxes in the post offices’ self-service area is relevant for the start of the postal delivery process by the Austrian Post.

The following case urged the court to reach the decision: The requesters of revision posted letters against administrative decisions of the Landespolizeidirektion Vienna, each on the last possible day within the respective deadline for complaints. The letters have been posted outside opening hours in the post box of a post office’s self-service area, since this area is accessible round-the-clock. The complaints have been rejected by the Administrative Court due to delayed arrival. The requesters requested revision against this decision, but this has been rejected once again due to delay, because it has been posted in said post box almost two hours after the collection (Monday to Friday until 6.30 p.m.).

The Supreme Administrative Court reached the following decision: The actual collection time of post boxes is relevant for guaranteeing the privileged postal delivery on the last day of an administrative proceeding’s deadline. The collection takes place during the post office’s opening hours. In the presented case the request has been posted outside the opening hours and therefore is considered as posted on the following working day and tabled outside the stipulated period. To ensure the privileged postal delivery for administrative proceedings which are subject to a deadline, these have to be posted within the opening hours at the post office’s counter or in the post boxes – prior to collection.

Further information on the decision can be found in the RIS (in German).