Royal Mail’s faulty anti-fraud technology ‘mischarging’ small firms | Business

Hundreds of small businesses have accused the Royal Mail of mischarging them thousands of pounds a month in penalties after it installed faulty technology designed to catch fraudsters.

Businesses across the country have contacted The Times after being incorrectly fined for failing to pay the right postage and being sent penalties up to three times the original cost of sending their packages.

Some have received bills running to thousands of pounds and say that they face going out of business.

Royal Mail initially denied that there was a problem and demanded payment. The issue has now been raised with the regulator, Ofcom.

Businesses said that they began noticing problems at around the start of the year, when Royal Mail began phasing out its manual system