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PhrasesAt the Post OfficeCos'è la PEC e come funziona?
B2formal

Cos'è la PEC e come funziona?

What is PEC (certified email) and how does it work?

Pronunciation

PEC — an acronym, pronounced as individual letters: P-E-C. Each letter is stressed equally.

When to use it

Use this when you need to understand or activate PEC (Posta Elettronica Certificata), Italy's legally certified email system. Poste Italiane offers PEC through its PosteCert service.

What it means

PEC (Posta Elettronica Certificata) is Italy's unique certified email system that has legal value equivalent to a raccomandata. Since 2012, companies and freelancers (partite IVA) are legally required to have a PEC address. It is administered through certified providers. Poste Italiane is the largest PEC provider through PostaCertificat@.

Variations

Vorrei attivare una PEC.

I'd like to activate a PEC address.

Starting the activation process

Quanto costa avere una casella PEC all'anno?

How much does it cost to have a PEC mailbox per year?

PEC costs range from €5 to €30/year depending on the provider

La PEC vale come raccomandata per le comunicazioni ufficiali?

Does PEC count as a registered letter for official communications?

Confirming the legal equivalence — very important for business use

Mini Dialogue

— Cos'è la PEC e come funziona? — È un'email certificata che ha valore legale come una raccomandata. — E devo averla per forza? — Se ha una partita IVA, sì — è obbligatoria per legge. — Allora vorrei attivarla.

— What is PEC and how does it work? — It's a certified email that has legal value like a registered letter. — And do I have to have it? — If you have a VAT number, yes — it's required by law. — Then I'd like to activate it.

Cultural Note

PEC is a uniquely Italian digital innovation, born out of the need to bring registered-letter equivalency into the digital age while meeting the Italian legal system's requirements for documented communication. By 2023, Italy had over 60 million active PEC addresses — one of the highest digital certification rates in Europe.