Royal Mail urged to stop fake stamp fines
Recipients should not have to pay £5 penalty to collect post if counterfeits used accidentally, says minister
THE Post Office minister has urged Royal Mail to stop fining people to collect letters that have fake stamps.
Kevin Hollinrake, the business minister, wrote to Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive at Royal Mail, last Wednesday. This newspaper has previously revealed fears that new barcoded stamps have led to a rise in counterfeits and concerns that unwitting customers are being forced to pay £5 to collect mail – the fine levied when Royal Mail detects a stamp is a forgery.
China is believed to be behind the counterfeit stamps flooding Britain, with security experts and MPS calling the forgery an “act of economic warfare”. Royal Mail has launched a review.
Mr Hollinrake wrote: “You will be aware of concerns being expressed by parliamentary colleagues about the £5 surcharge being applied, where a number of them have claimed that they have bought stamps from legitimate sources, but which have then been identified as counterfeit by your system.
“I recognise that where fake stamps have been used, it is right that the item should be treated as though no postage has been paid, but we urge you to suspend the £5 charge in such circumstances until the wider issue is resolved where there is some uncertainty that requires further investigation, whether for senders’ individual cases or more generally.” Barcoded stamps were first introduced in February 2022 to reduce postal fraud. Royal Mail said the move would save “tens of millions” of pounds each year.
Mr Hollinrake has previously vowed to “get to the bottom of what has happened”. MPS have called for a criminal investigation, saying that forging stamps needed to be treated with the same severity as counterfeiting money.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said: “Criminal law is very clear about this and I don’t understand why the police are not cracking down. The law is there to be used and these people are counterfeiters and they are as bad as counterfeiting money so treat them in the same way.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “The combination of new barcoded stamps with added security features and Royal Mail actively working with law enforcement authorities has led to a 90 per cent reduction in counterfeit stamps. We are working hard to remove counterfeit stamps from circulation.
“We regularly monitor online marketplaces to detect suspicious activity, such as sales of heavily discounted stamps and work closely with retailers and law enforcement agencies to identify those who produce counterfeit stamps.
“We want our customers to buy stamps with confidence and always recommend that customers only purchase stamps from Post Offices and other reputable High Street retailers, and not to buy stamps online – unless from the official Royal Mail shop.”