UK Postcomm spells out universal postal service
Postcomm have defined five areas of service, currently provided by Royal Mail, which the company needs to provide as the universal postal service. This means these services must be provided at an affordable flat rate price.
Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Postcomm said:
“This is another important step towards opening up the postal market to competition and ensuring customers get the products they want.
“This decision follows a year-long review of the universal postal service when users were asked, for the first time, what they wanted from the universal service. Until now it was assumed that the universal service applied to everything that Royal Mail did. Postcomm’s decision means that the legal definition of the universal service is now clearly translated into the postal services that customers want.”
In future the universal service will be made up of the following five postal services:
• Priority and non-priority mail services (letters and packets) up to 2 kilos – Royal Mail’s 1st and 2nd class mail services and bulk mail services
• A non-priority parcels service up to 20 kilos – Royal Mail’s standard parcel service
• A registered and insured service – Royal Mail’s Special Delivery (next day) and Recorded (signed-for) products
• A range of support services to ensure the security and integrity of mail– Royal Mail’s Re-direction (up to 12 months), Keepsafe, Post Restante, Certificate of posting and Business collections
• International outbound service – Royal Mail’s International public tariff and International Signed-for products. The UK is also subject to the requirements of the Universal Postal Union in respect of providing a service for delivery of international inbound mail.
Postcomm will continue to monitor and review the universal service taking account of the changing needs of users and the types of services offered by the market. In September, as part of a competitive market review, a decision will be made on which of Royal Mail’s bulk mail and access products have to be provided on universal service terms.
