Royal Mail’s £1.5m fine for postal delays

Royal Mail has been hit with a £1.5 million fine by the communications regulator for failing to deliver first-class mail on time.

Ofcom said that Royal Mail missed its target to deliver at least 93% of first-class post across the UK within one working day of it being collected.

In the financial year ending in 2019, only 91.5% of first-class post reached its destination on time, Ofcom said.

The company met its obligations the following financial year, Ofcom said.

The watchdog said it handed the hefty fine as the group did not provide a “satisfactory explanation and it did not take sufficient steps to get back on track during the year”.

Royal Mail said it is “disappointed” with its first-class postal service for the 2018-19 year and “accepts and understands” the decision by Ofcom.

It added: “We worked hard to restore our service quality in 2019-20 and, were it not for the pandemic and its impact on our business in the latter half of March, we were on course to deliver the requisite first-class regulated quality of service target of 93%.

“Despite our best endeavours, some areas of the UK experienced a reduction in service levels during March.”