Royal Mail Proposes Move to Zonal Pricing

Royal Mail has put forward a proposal to move to ‘Zonal Pricing’ from April 2007 for users of bulk mail accounts. If approved by Postcomm (Royal Mail’s Licence Regulator) the proposal will mean that the price of delivering an item of mail will vary according to where it is being delivered. Mail going to high density urban areas for instance, would cost less than mail going to low density remote areas.

In all, they propose five zones with discounts awarded to posters of mail to high density zones and surcharges made for deliveries to low density zones where delivery costs are higher than average.

The proposed changes apply to bulk mail services including Mailsort, Presstream and Walksort with the notable exception of Mailsort 1400 1st and 2nd class (which fall within the universal service obligation).