A PEC is an email service that can be used by anyone (individuals, public authorities, companies) to send electronic communications that guarantee a certified date of dispatch, the integrity of the message and proof of delivery.

A message sent from one certified email (PEC) account to another has the same legal validity as a traditional registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. To certify transmission and delivery, the sender’s PEC provider issues a proof of dispatch, while the recipient’s PEC provider issues a proof of delivery or non-delivery. These receipts include the original message and any attachments and constitute legally valid evidence.

All receipts bear an official timestamp. Moreover, a message sent to a recipient’s certified email account is deemed delivered regardless of whether the recipient actually accesses the account.

With regard to certified email, the Agency for Digital Italy:

In Italy, public administrations, public service providers, professionals and companies are required to have a certified email account. For citizens, this is optional.

In particular, all public administrations and public service providers must have a certified email account for each registry and notify AgID of each address. For businesses and professionals, there are other obligations, such as registering their PEC address with the Companies Register.

Citizens, on the other hand, may set up a PEC address and register it voluntarily with INAD to establish their general digital domicile and receive electronic communications from anyone in a simple and secure manner.

Official PEC lists: