Tag: TNT

Debate at Postcomm’s fourth annual industry forum over Royal Mail’s application to apply what it calls zonal pricing to some business mail products has illustrated the strong feelings and diverse views on the subject.

Royal Mail has applied to Postcomm to charge large mailers – using products which are not part of the Universal Service – different prices depending on where in the UK their mail is delivered. Today’s workshop was held as part of Postcomm’s consultation process for this application.

In advance of the workshop, a Royal Mail spokesperson said “the one-price-goes-anywhere universal service to the UK’s 27 million addresses is open to every customer and we have urged the regulator to agree that this service should be focused on stamped mail.”

For business customers, Royal Mail “believes where strong competition and customer choice is already well established, Postcomm should let the market decide on prices. That means allowing Royal Mail to introduce zonal pricing for bulk business mail – if business customers want it. Zonal pricing is already available and being used by Royal Mail’s access customers where prices can already vary if the mailing is for high or low density areas.”

Representatives from Postwatch, the customer watchdog, asked why Royal Mail “is proceeding with zonal pricing, an initiative that has received no customer support whatsoever”. Highlighting the potential impact on customers, and the wider postal market, Postwatch identified significant features, both positive and negative, within Royal Mail’s proposals concluding that the time was “not right to change to such a pricing structure”. Postwatch also urged customers to respond to Postcomm stating their opposition to the proposals to support “the fact that this change will be unreasonable for users of the service”.