Royal Mail FINED £10.5m by Ofcom due to ‘millions of letters arriving late’: ‘Poor service!’
Royal Mail has been fined £10.5million for missing its post delivery targets in the 2023-24 financial year by the country’s regular in charge of monitoring the postal service.
Ofcom has slammed the company for its “poor service” just before Christmas due to “millions of letters arriving late” over the period.
This latest fine for Royal Mail is its second penalty over the space of two years following a flood of complaints from Britons across the UK.
In November 2023, Ofcom levied a £5.6million penalty for its service provision.
According to Royal Mail, only three-quarters of first class post was delivered on time during the period, which falls short of its 93 per cent target.
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On top of this, 92.7 per cent per cent of second class post was delivered by Royal Mail on time, below its 98.5 per cent target
Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom director of enforcement, called on the postal service to “go further and faster” in improving its business practices.
He shared: “With millions of letters arriving late, far too many people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp.
“Royal Mail’s poor service is now eroding public trust in one of the UK’s oldest institutions.
“This is the second time we’ve fined the company since the pandemic.
“Royal Mail has provided an improvement plan, and we’re seeing some signs of progress, but it must go further and faster to deliver the service that people expect.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson asserted that achieving a high quality service is “extremely important to us” and that the company is making the necessary changes to meet its targets.
However, the spokesperson noted that its one-price-goes-anywhere, its universal service obligation, needs “urgent reform”. Royal Mail claims the current model does not modern customers’ needs.
The universal service currently requires Royal Mail to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week, but is under review.
The fine comes as Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky closes in on a deal to buy Royal Mail from current owner International Distribution Services.
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