Royal Mail faces possible fine as regulator looks into late deliveries
The communications regulator has launched an investigation into poor performance at Royal Mail that could lead to a fine after more than a quarter of first-class mail was not delivered on time.
Ofcom said it would examine the postal service operator’s failure to meet targets during a year marked by a long-running industrial dispute, which led to the resignation of the chief executive on Friday.
Royal Mail is required to deliver 93% of first class mail within one working day of collection and 98.5% of second class mail within three working days. Its workers are also required to complete 99.9% of routes on each day that a delivery is required.
However, the 507-year-old service has revealed that – over the last year excluding Christmas – only 73.7% of first class mail was delivered on target, 90.7% for second class and only 89.4% of delivery routes had been completed.
The regulator said on Monday: “Ofcom takes compliance with the quality-of-service targets very seriously.” It will now study whether there are “reasonable grounds for believing that Royal Mail has failed to comply with its obligations”.
Ofcom added: “In deciding whether the company is in breach of its obligations, we will consider if there were any exceptional events – beyond the company’s control – that may have explained why it missed its targets.
“If it does not provide a satisfactory explanation and we determine that Royal Mail has failed to comply with its obligations, we may consider whether to impose a financial penalty.”
Late last year, the regulator told Royal Mail it could no longer use the pandemic as an “excuse for poor delivery performance”.
The in-depth review will run alongside Ofcom’s regular annual study of Royal Mail’s performance.
The Royal Mail
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