Liberalisation of postal services
Liberalisation of postal services
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Postwatch welcomes National Audit Office’s report
Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, welcomes the
publication today of the NAO’s report into its first three years of
operation. Postwatch accepts and will work to achieve the ten short and
medium term recommendations. Peter Carr, Chairman of Postwatch commenting on the report said: ” The NAO’s review of our operations was timely. The report has given us a clearer vision of the way in which we should develop Postwatch to the benefit of all customers and we enjoyed working with the NAO team.
UK Royal Mail TMI plan sparks legal threat
Royal Mail is facing legal action following a dispute over the postal operator’s Tailor Made Incentives (TMIs) discount scheme. Pabo, which specialises in lingerie, magazines and videos, spends around GBP2.4m a year on Royal Mail’s services. But it is consulting its lawyers over a dispute that centres around a marketing venture that involved sending out a 16-page booklet to consumers featuring its best-selling items. The firm says it spent GBP75,000 on the mailing and, after discussions with Royal Mail to ensure it met the criteria for TMIs, expected to receive a discount of around GBP6,500. But it claims Royal Mail offered just GBP305. Pabo UK director David Billington says: “You get different information from different sectors of Royal Mail’s business. We understand that the maximum TMI anyone now receives is 5 per cent, but it is not a level playing-field.”
Read MoreSpanish Correos to seek 2.8% price increase
The chairman of Spanish postal services provider Correos, Jose Damian Santiago, has said that the company plans to request permission from the Spanish finance ministry for a 2.8 per cent increase in charges for postal services, effective from next year.
Read MoreDeutsche Post should be allowed to maintain mail monopoly, govt says
Deutsche Post World Net AG should be allowed to maintain its monopoly on mail weighing less than 100 grams, the German government said in a letter to the European Commission that was obtained by the Financial Times Deutschland.
The German government, which holds a majority stake in the mail carrier, wrote that ‘opening the mail market for so-called consolidators is not something that we are prepared to recommend,’ the FT Deutschland reported. The newspaper said domestic mail deliverers such as Pin AG and international rivals including United Parcel Service Inc have expressed an interest in entering this part of the German postal market. Deutsche Post is scheduled to lose its monopoly at the end of 2007 as part of an EU-wide move to liberalise the market for mail delivery.
US Urges Japan to Set Up Independent Body on Postal Privatization
The United States on Thursday called on Japan to create an independent committee to ensure fair competition between Japan Post and private companies.
In a meeting to discuss the countries’ regulatory reform and competition policy, the United States urged Japan to “establish a truly level playing field” with private companies in the process of privatizing Japan Post.
The US government called on Japan to prohibit the privatized postal financial institutions from launching new insurance and lending services until equal competitive conditions are established. Japan was urged to set up the independent committee to ensure that the equal conditions are maintained throughout the privatization process.
UK Royal Mail complaints rise 300% as targets are missed
Complaints about lost, damaged and late post have rocketed by more than 300 per cent in two years and are likely to reach 40,000 by the end of the financial year, according to new figures from the independent postal service watchdog.
Postwatch, the organisation set up to monitor Royal Mail, handled 28,000 complaints last year, up from just 6,300 in 2002, and says complaints this year are already on course to reach 40,000 by April. Of the 28,000 complaints handled by the watchdog last year, only 88 were about companies other than Royal Mail. Officials said the failure of Royal Mail to hit any of its 15 performance targets was fuelling increases in complaints ranging from lost letters and parcels to problems with redirection. The number of complaints, contained in a National Audit Office report about the postal and energy watchdogs, will reignite anger about the standard of postal services after figures published this year suggested that 14.5 million letters are lost each year, with 60 per cent delivered to the wrong address.
Somerfield & National Grid Transco renew with MailSource
MailSource has successfully extended its’ contract with Somerfield for a further three years. MailSource has 15 employees working at the Head Office building in Bristol which currently accommodates 2,000 Somerfield staff. In addition, there are approximately 650 Somerfield Stores, 550 Kwik Save Stores, 13 Distribution Depots, 6 Divisional Offices and 350 external personnel across the UK all of whom receive information via the Mailroom.
MailSource has also successfully extended its’ contract with National Grid Transco for a further three years. MailSource have 3 employees servicing 2 buildings within London delivering mail to 200 NGT staff. The contract was renewed following a proposal submitted by MailSource.
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