Royal Mail Pushes Back on Ofcom’s Postal Service Reforms

The company challenges proposed delivery targets and regulations, citing cost concerns and advocating for modernized parcel tracking as it prepares for a historic foreign takeover.

• Royal Mail argues that Ofcom's proposed 99.5% delivery target for first-class letters within three days would significantly raise operational costs and consumer prices.
• The company is calling for the removal of restrictions that prevent offering parcel tracking for first- and second-class services, citing changing customer expectations in a competitive market.
• Ofcom’s reforms include reducing second-class delivery obligations to alternate weekdays and ending Saturday service, while maintaining six-day delivery for first-class mail.
• Royal Mail supports some changes but warns that other proposals introduce unnecessary regulation, hindering financial sustainability and service affordability.
• The £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail’s parent company by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is set to finalize this month, marking the first foreign ownership in its 500-year history.

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