Japan's parliament on Friday gave the green light to stop Saturday as well as next-day delivery of standard postal mail to address a worker shortage and falling demand due to increased use of the internet.

Under the revised postal law, the changes will take effect around next fall. But while standard mail delivery service will be limited to weekdays only, Saturday and Sunday delivery of parcels as well as express and registered mail will be maintained.

Postal services are operated under a universal service obligation in Japan, including rural areas, remote islands and mountainous regions.

Japan Post Co., a unit of Japan Post Holdings Co., had been calling for a review of the postal law to end Saturday delivery as it faces a shortage of workers and rising labor costs.

While demand for "snail mail" has been declining with the rise of email, demand for the delivery of parcels has been on the rise as an increasing number of people shop items online.

Last year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications accepted a government panel's proposal to end Saturday delivery of mail.

A bill to amend the law was initially planned to be submitted to the Diet last year or earlier this year, but it was delayed due to a fraud scandal involving sales of insurance products at the Japan Post group.

==Kyodo

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