Royal Mail faces Ofcom questions over ignored supply objectives

The postal regulator has introduced an investigation into Royal Mail for lacking its annual supply objectives, with virtually 1 / 4 of first class mail arriving overdue.

The corporate, which has been fined greater than £16m within the closing two years for failing to satisfy the supply objectives set via Ofcom, stated 23.5% of first class mail didn’t arrive on time within the yr to the tip of March.

This is a slight development at the earlier yr, when greater than 1 / 4 of first class mail didn’t arrive throughout the one-working-day goal set via the regulator.

Under the watchdog’s laws, 93% of first class mail will have to be delivered inside one operating day of assortment, with the exception of Christmas.

The newest supply figures revealed via Royal Mail on Friday confirmed that it controlled to ship 92.2% of second-class mail throughout the three-working-day prohibit set via Ofcom.

“We will investigate whether there are reasonable grounds for believing that Royal Mail has failed to comply with its obligations in 2024-25,” stated a spokesperson for Ofcom. “If we determine that Royal Mail has failed to comply with its obligations, we will consider whether to impose a financial penalty.”

In December 2024, Ofcom fined the corporate £10.5m for failing to satisfy its supply objectives. The earlier yr, the postal regulator fined Royal Mail £5.6m for a similar failure of its regulatory duties.

Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail’s leader working officer, admitted that the corporate’s high quality of carrier was once “not where we want it to be”.

“We will continue to work hard to deliver the standards our customers expect,” he stated. “We are actively modernising Royal Mail, and while these efforts are beginning to deliver results, we know there is still more to do.”

Last month, the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group finished a £3.6bn takeover of International Distributions Services, the landlord of Royal Mail.

Cochrane stated Royal Mail would cooperate with Ofcom’s investigation however stated the trade was once going through structural demanding situations and wanted pressing reform of the common carrier legal responsibility to ship at one-price national six days per week.

Earlier this yr, Ofcom introduced a session proposing that Royal Mail will have to be allowed to ship second-class letters on change weekdays and to prevent Saturday deliveries underneath adjustments to postal carrier laws.

Ofcom stated chopping the deliveries to each and every different weekday with a worth cap on second-class stamps, whilst keeping up first class letters six days per week, would nonetheless meet the general public’s wishes.

Its provisional suggestions additionally integrated chopping supply objectives for first class mail from 93% to 90% arriving the next day to come, and for second-class mail from 98.5% to 95% inside 3 days.

Ofcom stated it estimated the adjustments would allow Royal Mail to avoid wasting between £250m and £425m each and every yr.

Tom MacInnes, the director of coverage at Citizens Advice, stated: “ Our research has shown the damaging consequences of late post, like missed health appointments, fines, bills and vital government communications. But with no alternative provider to choose from, people are forced to grapple with poor service, yearon year.

“With Ofcom considering relaxing the current delivery targets set for Royal Mail as part of the universal service obligation review, reliability remains a huge concern. The regulator must get off the sidelines and make the company do what it should have been doing all along – giving paying customers the service they deserve.”