Postcomm imposes penalty on UK Royal Mail for failing to protect mail

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, today imposed a financial penalty of GBP 9.62 million on Royal Mail for breaching its licence by failing to properly protect the mail in its care.

The penalty follows a review of Royal Mail’s “mail integrity procedures”, during which Postcomm found that some important features of Royal Mail’s procedures were not being applied across the business.

The penalty was first proposed on 10 February 2006, when Postcomm published a consultation document proposing an amount of GBP 11.38 million. After taking account of representations from Royal Mail and other respondents, Postcomm published its proposal to vary the penalty to GBP 9.62 million on 16 June.

Following consideration of further representations received, Postcomm has confirmed that figure and has today published the penalty notice.