Business customers back end to mail monopoly
Consignia’s biggest customers have backed plans to end the Royal Mail group’s monopoly in an attempt to prevent any watering down of proposed regulation to introduce competition.
The Mail Users’ Association, representing business customers, had avoided endorsing the regulator’s plans, fearing they could harm mail deliveries by pushing Consignia further into financial crisis. However, the group has now ended its neutrality and de-cided there is a bigger risk to service levels if Consignia were allowed to continue without competition.
Following a meeting of members, John Ivers, association chairman, said: “Without competition there is a real danger that Consignia will continue to decline and that the universal postal service will be at risk.”
The decision to join the fierce political battle over Consignia’s monopoly follows signs that Postcomm, the independent regulator, was succumbing to government pressure to dilute its bolder-than-expected plans to encourage competition.
On Monday, Graham Corbett, Postcomm chairman, said he would consider amending the original plans for competition if Consignia produced good reasons. Consignia believes its finances have deteriorated significantly and is preparing to submit fresh evidence.
Postcomm’s more open approach to the deliberately short consultation period contrasts with its earlier insistence that interested parties had enjoyed plenty of time to make their views known during earlier consultation. Nevertheless, the regulator said no final decision would be made until after all the submissions had been received on March 15. It denied that the willingness to listen to Consignia meant it was “ready to retreat”.
Consignia believes Postcomm could soften the blow of its original proposals without undermining the principle of encouraging competition, especially since the UK plans remain far ahead of liberalisation proposed by the European Commission.
* The Communication Workers Union last night confirmed it had made substantial progress on pay talks with Consignia. The two sides are expected to announce details of their agreement in the next few days, although further confrontation is expected over threatened job cuts. Pressure on monopoly, Page 24
Page 2; Edition London Ed3; Section NATIONAL NEWS
Copyright 2002: Financial Times Group
