Public authorities to begin primarily sending digital mail to users of digital services in April

On 11 March, Parliament passed a bill for legislative amendments that will cause public authorities to primarily send digital messages to people who are already using digital services provided by the authorities. Paper mail will remain an option. This change is scheduled to enter into force on 14 April once the amendments have been adopted.

Mail from public authorities will in future be primarily sent electronically to adult users wherever possible. This will not affect people who do not use digital services or Suomi.fi e-Identification or people under guardianship.

“Many people already use electronic services as the main way they handle their affairs with public authorities. In future, they will also primarily receive mail from the authorities electronically. No one will be forced to use digital services, and it will always be possible to switch back to paper mail. This change will reduce public expenditure by tens of millions of euros each year,” said Minister of Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen.

Paper mail will remain an option

The change relates to the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government, which states that Finland will gradually shift to making digital services the primary channel for accessing the services of public authorities.

Following the legislative amendments, a Suomi.fi Messages account will be activated for adults who do not already have one when they use the Suomi.fi e-Identification service. Users will be informed of the activation of the account when they identify themselves and will be asked to provide an email address for notifications of new messages to be sent to. If they wish, users will be able to close the account and switch back to receiving paper mail. Electronic messages will not be activated when using services on behalf of someone else.

A user’s Suomi.fi Messages account will be reactivated if they access e-services provided by public authorities after one year has passed from when they closed their account. Users can then close the account again to continue receiving paper mail if necessary. This will make it possible for a user to handle an individual matter electronically within the one-year limit without being automatically switched over to primarily electronic messages.

People will be able to use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations to allow another person to use Suomi.fi Messages on their behalf. 

The legislative amendments are scheduled to enter into force on 14 April.

Support available for use

People will still be able to deal with public authorities over the phone and in person. Support for using digital services will also be available. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will inform people about this reform and its effects and is responsible for collaboration and coordination relating to digital support.

In the next phase of the reform, users will be able to use commercially available digital mailbox services to read electronic messages sent by the authorities alongside their Suomi.fi Messages account.