Postcomm agrees to Royal Mail stopping Sunday collections

Postcomm has published its agreement to Royal Mail’s request to stop collecting post from post boxes and businesses on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The document is available here.

The agreement is subject to several customer safeguards which Postwatch suggested, and which have been agreed by Royal Mail:

– Royal Mail will communicate the changes to customers, through placing notices on postboxes and at Crown post offices where Sunday/bank holidays collections take place, as well as contacting the 50 businesses that currently receive a tailored Sunday collection service.

– Collection plate information will be amended.

– Post boxes in areas of high usage will be monitored and emptied if there is a risk of overflowing.

Postwatch accepts that some customers will be inconvenienced by the change. However, given the low volumes of Sunday collections and the relatively high cost of the service, on balance, we believe this move is justified, insofar as it will help reduce Royal Mail’s costs and ensure the universal service continues to be delivered at an affordable price.

To inform our position, Postwatch commissioned research to investigate the customer need for Sunday collections. 68 percent of respondents said they used the service either ‘very seldom’ or ‘never’.