Postcomm, the independent UK postal regulator, has confirmed a financial penalty on Royal Mailfor breaching its licence by failing to properly protect the mail in its care. The penalty – £9.62
million – has been reduced slightly from the £11.38 million originally proposed, followingrepresentations from Royal Mail and others. But it is still the largest financial penalty Postcommhas imposed on the British national postal operator.The penalty follows a review of Royal Mail’s “mail integrity procedures”, during which Postcommfound that some important features of Royal Mail’s procedures were not being applied across thebusiness. The most significant weakness was the poor management of the recruitment and training ofnon-contract (agency) staff.
In addition, the framework and information systems that Royal Mail had put in place toprevent loss, theft or damage of mail, were not being used effectively, significantlyreducing the company’s ability to protect customers’ mail.
Postcomm originally proposed the financial penalty of £11.38 million on 10 February 2006. Aftertaking account of representations by Royal Mail and other respondents, Postcomm’s Commissionersdecided to reduce the penalty to £9.62 million.
The main reason for reducing the penalty was the acknowledgment that all types, weights andclasses of mail are affected by Royal Mail’s procedures, not just first class stamped mail,used as the original basis for the calculation of the penalty.
In December 2003, Postcomm imposed a financial penalty of £7.5 million on Royal Mail after thecompany failed to meet delivery performance standards for two types of business mail.
