Britain’s Royal Mail fined $28M for failing to deliver letters on time

Oct. 15 (UPI) — Britain’s communications watchdog fined Royal Mail $28 million on Wednesday for failing to get letters to their destination on time for the third consecutive year.

Ofcom imposed the penalty, the third largest it has ever levied, after a six-month investigation revealed that in the 2024-2025 financial year, the 500-year-old postal service delivered just 77% of first-class mail and 92.5% of second-class mail on time.

Strict regulatory targets require 93% of first-class mail to reach its destination within one working day, while 98.5% of second-class mail must be delivered within three working days.

Saying Royal Mail’s performance had fallen “well short” of its targets, Ofcom ordered the firm to urgently bring forward and implement a credible improvement plan, warning it would face more fines if it failed to do so.

Wednesday’s fine comes on top of $21.5 million of fines imposed over the past two years for failing to meet targets, with Ofcom criticizing Royal Mail over a plan last year to reach 85% for first and 97% for Second Class mail by March, which it said had not materialized.

“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” said Ofcom enforcement director Ian Strawhorne.

“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better. Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency. And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.”

Ofcom said the company’s failure to provide an acceptable level of service without reasonable excuse was in breach of its obligations and that it had taken “insufficient and ineffective steps” to try to prevent it, with knock-on impacts for millions of its customers.

Royal Mail, which was previously fined $14 million in November 2024 and $7.5 million in November 2023, said it acknowledged Ofcom’s ruling and vowed to “continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service.”

Consumer advocacy group Citizens Advice questioned whether the fines would make any difference.

“When these failures are just an ordinary part of doing business, Ofcom’s fine risks becoming another operating cost, doing little to encourage the company to improve its service,” said Citizens Advice policy director Tom MacInnes.

“Missed post has real life consequences, with people left waiting for urgent medical appointment letters, legal documents and [welfare] benefit decisions,” he said.

In July, Ofcom relaxed Royal Mail’s so-called Universal Service Requirement to provide the same service to every address in Britain, allowing it to deliver second-class letters in some areas every other day, instead of six days a week, and end Saturday deliveries.

The changes came three months after Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky completed a deal to purchase Royal Mail parent company International Distribution Services for $4.9 billion, coinciding with a rise in the cost of a first-class stamp to $2.27.

That compares with $0.78 for a first-class stamp from the United States Postal Service, an agency of the federal government, with its own USO to fulfill.