Royal Mail fined £1.6m for failing to deliver post on time

Royal Mail has been fined £1.6m by the UK communications regulator for failing to deliver post on time and overcharging for stamps.

The UK postal company did not meet its delivery target for first-class mail in 2018-19, and failed to take sufficient steps to get back on track over that period or offer an explanation, Ofcom said on Friday.

The company, which was privatised in 2013, delivered 91.5 per cent of first-class mail within one-working day of collection, below its statutory requirement of 93 per cent. 

“Royal Mail let its customers down, and these fines should serve as a reminder that we’ll take action when companies fall short,” said Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s director of investigations and enforcement. 

Performance improved over the 2019-20 period, as Royal Mail hit targets that were revised to take into account disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The postal service has been pushed to its limits to continue deliveries during the crisis, as locked down Britons turned to online companies for deliveries.

The regulator fined Royal Mail £1.5m for the delivery failures, and an additional £100,000 for overpricing second-class stamps over a single week in March this year before changes to its price cap came into force.

The fines are significantly smaller than the £50m punishment Ofcom slapped on Royal Mail in 2018 for engaging in price discrimination against a competitor. 

Royal Mail said it accepted Ofcom’s decision and was “disappointed” with its first-class service in 2018-19.