After the amendment of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Act on electronic delivery entered into force on October 5, 2021. The adoption of this Act is one of the many actions of the legislator aimed at transferring correspondence to electronic means without the use of paper document flow. The act introduces a new system of correspondence exchange between public entities, natural persons, and entrepreneurs. It is assumed that electronic delivery is to be cheaper and faster than traditional correspondence (once posted, the letter arrives in the addressee’s inbox immediately). Their purpose is also to ensure greater security than in the case of correspondence in paper form, by excluding the possibility of undesirable interference by third parties in the content of the mail.
Electronic deliveries will be available to all interested entities – both natural and legal persons. However, the Act does not impose a general obligation to use this solution. Only entities specified in the Act will be obliged to have an address for electronic delivery. They include public administration entities, entrepreneurs, and legal professionals listed in the Act.
The amendment to the Act did not only postpone the date of entry into force of the Act but also the dates from which individual entities are required to have an e-delivery address. Entities entered into the National Court Register and legal professionals are obliged to set up a delivery box by July 5, 2022, at the latest. In addition, the address for electronic delivery will also have to be established by entrepreneurs entered in the CEIDG (Central Registration and Information on Business) – this obligation comes into force in their case from October 1, 2026.
Natural persons who do not run businesses and do not practice legal professions will not be obliged to set up and use an address intended for electronic deliveries. For these people, the legislator has provided the so-called hybrid deliveries that will be handled by Poczta Polska (Polish Post). Hybrid deliveries will only apply if the sender is a public entity. The letter sent to the sender in electronic form is to be converted by the Post Office from digital to paper form. The Post Office will then be required to send the letter in the above form to the addressee by letter.
This address for electronic delivery can be created in two ways. First – the application procedure – requires the submission of an application to the Minister for IT Development to create an address. Such an application will have to be submitted by, among others, legal professionals as well as entrepreneurs registered in the CEIDG and KRS (National Court Register). The second option for creating an address for service is the official procedure. Entities that apply for entry in the registers of entrepreneurs after July 5, 2022, will receive access to their e-delivery mailbox along with the entry.
Ultimately, e-deliveries are to replace the e-PUAP mailbox, which, according to the Act, will be closed after September 30, 2029. The result of shutting down e-PUAP will be the loss of correspondence there, so to keep it, it will be necessary to first archive it in a manner appropriate for the mailbox owner.
