ACT ON THE ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS

The Act on the Electronic Delivery of Documents, which entered into force on 5 October 2021, is aimed at modernising, streamlining and standardising communication with the public authorities.

At the moment, users need to have a number of accounts on various official sites in order to use the electronic services provided by public offices. Raising complaints about a lack of user friendliness, clunkiness and chaos in the systems, businesses have tended to give up on using remote means of communication with authorities.

Electronic delivery (e-delivery) is a universal public service provided by a qualified trust service provider providing qualified electronic registered delivery services (ERDS). This process complies with the eIDAS Regulation (such as qualified electronic signatures). A message sent from the address dedicated to e-deliveries has the same legal effect as a registered letter with return receipt. 

E-delivery will be used in every administrative, court and civil procedure, ultimately becoming the default form of communication between individuals and businesses with public authorities. 

The first step to using the service will be setting-up an address for e-delivery and registering it in the official repository and directory of electronic addresses (Baza adresów elektronicznych, BAE). The BAE is a public register of addresses used in the electronic delivery process, maintained by the Ministry of Digital Affairs. 

From the moment an email address is registered, then authorities will start sending correspondence by electronic means only. 

Public entities and businesses are required to have an address for the electronic delivery of documents. Such an address must be registered:

• for businesses registered in the National Court Register (KRS) before 5 July 2022 – from 1 October 2022
• for businesses registered in the Central Registration and Information on Economic Activity (the CEIDG) – from 1 October 2026

Importantly, users who have an address dedicated to e-delivery are required to collect electronic correspondence, but not to send correspondence electronically.