Post Office letter delivery monopoly coming to an end
The Post Office’s monopoly on delivering letters less than £1 or 350g is to end. A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry says: “On March 26 it is the intention that the monopoly will be replaced by a licensing system.” However, Chris Webb, spokesman for industry regulator the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm), says he does not “anticipate an avalanche of competition on the 26th. I would be surprised if we find any realistic competition before autumn this year”.
The licences will be administered by the industry regulator Postal Services Commission and the first recipient will be the Post Office. Postcomm will have the power to grant other licences that are industry or location specific, for example within the haulage industry or in central London.
However these must not compromise the provision of a universal postal service: one delivery per day, Monday to Saturday, at a uniform tariff. Each licence will be individually negotiated and the imposition of terms dictating standards of service will be used to ensure this basic service level.
Alan Jones, chief executive of TNT, confirms that it has already applied for a specific licence and is studying the opportunity to apply for more in the future. The Post Office maintains that the prospect of greater competition has not been exacerbated by recent strike action. Christine Gregory, Post Office spokeswoman, says that “the strikes are significant to us regardless of increased competition… this just means there is even less room for complacency”.
Motor Transport. 8 March 2001
