S.I. No. 133/1998:

INLAND POST AMENDMENT (NO. 59) SCHEME, 1998.

INLAND POST AMENDMENT (NO. 59) SCHEME, 1998.

AN POST, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Section 70 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 , (No. 24 of 1983) and with the consent of the Minister for Public Enterprise hereby makes the following Scheme:

1. (1) This Scheme may be cited as the Inland Post Amendment (No. 59) Scheme, 1998.

(2) This Scheme shall be operative with effect from the 1st day of March, 1998.

2. In this Scheme "The Principal Warrant" means the Inland Post Warrant, 1939 ( S. R. & O. No. 202 of 1939 );

In this Scheme "The Postaim Warrant" means the Inland Post Amendment (No. 36) Scheme, 1986 ( S.I. No. 362 of 1986 ).

3. This Scheme applies to postal packets as defined in the Principal Warrant which comply with the provisions and restrictions of this Scheme and to which, by virtue of the arrangement between An Post and the sender thereof, this Scheme applies.

4. The service provided under this Scheme shall be known as the "Loyalty Mail Service" and is so referred to in this Scheme. The Loyalty Mail Service is a Postal Service specifically designed for An Post customers who operate or propose to operate a loyalty club scheme with their existing customers, which may be referred to as a relationship marketing scheme. All the terms and conditions contained in the Post-aim Warrant shall apply to the Loyalty Mail Service except Regulations 4, 6, 8, 11, the First Schedule and the Second Schedule thereof.

5. Any postal packet intended for posting under the Loyalty Mail Service shall contain only printed matter which relates to a loyalty scheme or relationship marketing programme operated by the sender and, for the avoidance of doubt, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the following postal items are expressly excluded from the Loyalty Mail Service.

Items required by law to be sent by post; items requested by the addressee, invoices, statements of account or invoices issued, statements of a financial nature (i.e. current, deposit or investment accounts), statements of moneys and/or balance due, statements of credit or charge cards, annual reports or sales reports, price change notifications, merchandise, items mailed on a sale or return basis, items for which a fee is payable by the addressee, receipts for moneys received, notification of indexation changes, items which are required to be sent pursuant to a contract other than details of loyalty scheme bonus points and/or coupons, subscription items or renewal of subscriptions to a product or service, membership newsletters or renewals unless they form an integral part of the loyalty scheme or relationship marketing programme, meeting notices, notification to members or organisations of further functions, registered publications unless the publication forms an integral part of the loyalty scheme or relationship marketing programme.

5.1 Where a statement of loyalty scheme benefits is included e.g. air miles or bonus points such statements must clearly state that these details do not constitute an invoice or a financial statement.

6. Any person intending to use the Loyalty Mail Service shall apply to An Post for a licence and An Post may grant such licence subject to the terms and conditions as set out in the Scheme. Such licence shall specify up to ten five day periods during any calendar year during which the licensee may make deliveries of postal packets to An Post for delivery under the Scheme and shall specify the number of postal packets to be delivered to An Post in respect of each 5 day period. Licences may be granted in respect of any of the categories of sender specified in the Third Schedule. No more than one licence may be granted in respect of any category for any five day period.

7. There shall be charged and paid upon postal packets posted under the Loyalty Mail Service the rate specified in the First Schedule hereto.

7.1 The rates specified in the First Schedule hereto shall be charged and paid upon postal packets posted under the Loyalty Mail Service. There shall be charged and paid upon postal packets under the Loyalty Mail Service which do not comply with the terms and conditions of that service the rates for postage specified for letters in the first column of the First Schedule to the Principal Warrant.

7.2 Any person who obtains a licence under Regulation 6 of this Scheme and who fails to post the number of postal packets specified in the licence in the 5 day periods specified in the licence shall be liable to pay an amount to An Post equal to the value of the postage payable on such items.

8. Every posting made under the Loyalty Mail Service shall be subject to the standard terms and conditions of the service set forth in the Second Schedule hereto.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Rates of Postage

Volumes

M -- Machineable      NM -- Non Machineable

Notes

* Prices shown are for single or cumulative annual volumes.

SECOND SCHEDULE

Standard Terms And Conditions

1. Mailings of more than 10,000 will require an individual pre-sort programme, details of which will be supplied by An Post.

Pre-sorted bundles must be delivered for posting on the day stipulated in the licence, usually within three working days in advance of the commencement of the delivery period. Items will normally be delivered over a period of five working days.

Items for each destination shall be bundled separately (in bundles not exceeding 50 items) and labelled to their destination. All bundles for each separate destination shall be placed in a bag which must also be labelled to the particular destination.

2. Postal packets shall be posted in the Loyalty Mail Service under the terms of any licence in quantities of not less than 10,000 items per mailing and not less than an annual cumulative volume of 100,000 items.

3. Postal packets posted under the Loyalty Mail Service shall be enclosed in sealed envelopes or in plastic covers.

4. Postal packets posted under the Loyalty Mail Service in plastic covers must comply with all the regulations of An Post governing the use of plastic covers.

5. All postal packets posted under the Loyalty Mail Service shall be fully addressed to the addressee and the address of the addressee shall include the postal town. The licence number shall appear in the top right-hand corner on the front of the envelope or the plastic cover. The full postal address of the sender shall appear in the top left hand corner of the front of the envelope or plastic cover.

6. Each postal packet posted under the Loyalty Mail Service shall not weigh more than 500grms.

7. An Post may, at its absolute discretion, suspend, withhold or restrict the Loyalty Mail Service so, however, that no person who has obtained a licence from An Post in accordance with Regulation 8 of this Scheme shall be thereby materially prejudiced.

8. An Post is not a common carrier for any of the purposes of the Loyalty Mail Service.

9. The sender shall indemnify An Post against all loss, damage, claims or demands it may suffer directly or indirectly arising from the distribution by An Post of Loyalty Mail including claims arising from the contents thereof.

10. An Post shall have no liability to any person for any loss or damage suffered by such person arising directly or indirectly from any failure or delay in providing the Loyalty Mail Service.

THIRD SCHEDULE

Industry Categories

GIVEN under the Common Seal of AN POST, this 17th day of April, 1998.

PRESENT when the Common Seal of AN POST was affixed hereto:

JOHN HYNES,

Director.

HARRY COOKE,

Secretary.

I, Mary O'Rourke, Minister for Public Enterprise, hereby consent to the provisions of the foregoing Scheme.

MARY O'ROURKE

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 30th day of April, 1998.

MARY O'ROURKE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Scheme applies to the Postaim Service and comes into operation on the 1st of March, 1998.

It creates a new form of Postaim, Loyalty Mail, a specialist service designed to facilitate relationship marketing.