Under Act CLIX of 2012 on Postal Services, postal service means any service involving, in whole or in part, the acceptance, collection (where required), processing, transport and delivery of mail, provided in the course of a commercial activity.

Mail means a letter or parcel with a weight of up to 40 kg, featuring at least an address on the mail itself, on its packaging or in a list attached to it, or any other letter or parcel identified as mail by law; such mail may be items of correspondence, official documents, mail written in Braille, parcels and mail containing books, catalogues and press publications, and any other mail which is not excluded from the scope of postal services in accordance with a government decree issued under statutory authority.

Based on existing Hungarian regulations, postal services can be classified as follows:

Universal postal services

Universal postal services include services involving the following types of mail:

1. unregistered domestic or international mail with a weight of up to two kilograms;
2. domestic or international parcels with a weight of up to ten kilograms;
3. domestic or international mail written in Braille;
4. official documents.

Within the scope of a universal postal service, the operator must ensure the use of registered mail, delivery confirmation and/or value declaration services.

Postal services substituting universal postal service (subject to authorisation)

A postal service substituting universal postal service means any postal service involving mail other than non-universal services and provided by a postal operator on grounds other than universal postal service obligation.

Postal services not considered a substitute for universal postal service, i.e. “non-universal postal services”

This includes:

1. courier service: a time-guaranteed postal service to be delivered within 24 hours of accepting an item of mail, whereby the postal operator undertakes to have the person accepting mail continuously personally monitor the item of mail until a delivery attempt is made, ensuring that the sender may have the addressee or the address of the item of mail changed at any time during this period and take the necessary steps if delivery by hand fails;
2. express postal service: a time-guaranteed service whereby the postal operator undertakes to deliver an item of mail within Hungary the business day after its acceptance, to EU Member States within three business days after its acceptance and to any other international destination within five days after its acceptance and, furthermore, provides at least one of the additional services listed in points a) to f) below:
   1. traceable handling;
   2. cash on delivery;
   3. delivery confirmation;
   4. value declaration;
   5. delivery only into the hands of the person identified as the recipient of mail;
   6. acceptance of mail at the sender’s permanent or habitual residence, registered office, site or branch;
3. international EMS service: an international postal service provided by a universal postal operator in accordance with the rules laid down in the legislation promulgating the Universal Postal Convention.
4. A postal service including at least one of the following special additional services representing significant high added value:
   • traceable handling of mail;
   • time-guaranteed service;
   • “cash on delivery” service
   • a service allowing for delivery at the time individually agreed upon with recipients after the acceptance of mail;
   • delivery only into the hands of the person identified as the recipient of mail;
   • any other additional service related to mail delivery, tailored to the individual needs of senders and provided under an individual contract, other than the additional services that are required to be provided along with universal service; if such additional service is used, the postal service will no longer be considered a service substituting universal postal service for the user.