Tag: Royal Mail

Britain’s postal service market will be fully liberalised from 1 January 2006, Postcomm announced today. The move completes the process of removing the monopoly enjoyed by Royal Mail for more than 350 years. Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Postcomm said: “After three months of consultation, a substantial majority gave the thumbs-up to competition. We can now look forward to a more innovative and efficient postal industry focused on providing customers with the services they want, rather than being told by a monopolist what services they can – and cannot – have.” The decision means that from 2006 – fifteen months earlier than originally planned – licensed companies other than Royal Mail will be able to collect, transport and deliver letters and charge customers for the service. It follows extensive consultation in which a large majority of respondents said they favoured an early introduction of full market opening.

Postcomm is risking the wrath of Royal Mail by pledging to treat new entrants to the postal market with a regulatory ‘light touch’. The move, outlined in the watchdog’s corporate strategy for the next three years, is designed to free them from unnecessary regulation. A Postcomm spokeswoman says that it is doing what is necessary to prevent abuse of the system, rather than for its own sake. She explains: “In a fully competitive market, regulation is not necessary, as weaker players will be edged out.”

Royal Mail has agreed to tighten its internal compliance procedures following an investigation by Postcomm into allegations that two of the company’s promotion schemes were anti-competitive.

The schemes were designed by Royal Mail to encourage customers to use mail as part of their marketing activities. The complainant – another postal operator – alleged that, in encouraging customers to switch to Royal Mail, the company was intending to remove competition from the market.

Postcomm has concluded that Royal Mail appears to have contravened two conditions in its licence designed to facilitate competition. As a result, the company has given several undertakings to Postcomm on the way it will in future conduct any promotional offers and special deals with non standard terms.