Tag: Royal Mail

Another competitor to Royal Mail will later this month face court action for throwing away mail. Postcomm, the industry regulator, will present evidence against an individual working for one of Royal Mail’s rivals at Redditch, West Midlands. It will be the second prosecution of a new postal operator in two months as the regulator aims to ensure that service standards are maintained.
Competitors to Royal Mail include Express Dairies, UK Mail, Deutsche Post, TPG and Hays DX. A spokesman for Postcomm said: “There will be more prosecutions. We hope there won’t be too many more, but we have to ensure that the new operators maintain adequate standards.” Postwatch, the consumers’ group, said: “The higher profile the action against dumping, the better, as it is one of the constant problems in the postal service. But it also does not seem a level playing field when rival operators face prosecution but Royal Mail deals with dumping incidents itself.”

Royal Mail has been forced to overhaul its pricing strategy following a Postcomm investigation into anti-competitive practices. The Postcomm probe, launched over a year ago followed a complaint from a rival company that Royal Mail was offering unfair discounts to secure business. Postcomm concluded that two schemes – the catalogue customer reactivation and acquisition test, and the Mailsort 3 incremental ad promotion – were anti-competitive. Royal Mail has agreed to tighten up its internal compliance procedures as a result. Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton says: “We are being very watchful that Royal Mail is not using its dominance to freeze out competitors. We have extensive powers to deal with anti-competitive behaviour, which we will not hesitate to use. “We will continue to investigate complaints from competitors who feel their business is being threatened by unfair Royal Mail actions.”