Industry relief over UK PIP 12-month delay
Postcomm’s decision to delay the introduction of Royal Mail’s controversial pricing in proportion (PIP) scheme until September 2006 has been met with a sigh of relief from industry chiefs.
The decision follows two years of extensive consultation by the regulator, and revised proposals from Royal Mail. The industry now has the full 12 months most interested parties desperately requested to prepare for change.
Peter Carr, chairman of Postwatch, says: “It was essential customers were given a year’s notice of this important change. Large mailers understand what is proposed and how to take advantage of the new structure. But many enterprises and domestic customers generally do not.
“The challenge for Royal Mail is to bring its whole customer base up to the same level of understanding.”
Chris Gordon, chief executive of WWAV Rapp Collins, states: “It’s a victory for commonsense, a battle we had to win. We worked hard to show Postcomm that it was not feasible to introduce PIP in April, and we are happy and relieved that it saw sense.”
Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton comments: “PIP will promote the development of a successful and growing postal market by allowing Royal Mail to bring prices more closely in line with its costs.”
But Lorna Clarkson, Royal Mail’s director of commercial policy and pricing, warns: “We need to reflect our costs in prices. This is a small, but very welcome step, yet much more needs to be done. We will fight hard to achieve fair, fully cost-reflective prices.”
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