Ofcom is investigating Royal Mail’s failure to meet its delivery target for 2021-22.
The regulator said: “Ofcom takes adherence to service quality goals very seriously.
“Our investigation, on behalf of postal users, will gather evidence to understand the reasons behind this significant lapse and determine if Royal Mail was in breach of its claims. .”
Royal letter some targets are not achieved in the period 2021-22.
The operator was supposed to deliver 93% of first-class mail within one business day of collection, but managed only 81.8%.
It meant sending 98.5% of second-class mail within three business days of collection, but it managed 95.4%
Its goal is that 99.9% of delivery routes are completed every day, one delivery is requested, but it only reaches 94.09%.
And 91.5% of first-class stamped and measured mail products are delivered within one business day using 118 UK postcodes – but Royal Mail has fallen short of its target in any area. of these.
Royal Mail ‘disappointed’ with performance
Ofcom says performance against targets is measured as an average of performance on an annual basis, excluding the Christmas period.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are very disappointed with our Quality of Service performance from 2021 to 22 and apologize to all customers who have been impacted by any service issues. .
“As we return to a more normal way of working and implement our transition program, we’re confident we’re doing the right things to enable service levels to improve in the future. “
The spokesperson added that the company will participate fully in Ofcom’s investigation.
Stocks fall on the stock market
Shares of Royal Mail fell more than 5% in late afternoon trading.
Early May, Royal Mail signal that it will need to increase in price as it seeks to save costs of £350m over the course of the financial year – up from £290m previously planned.
It later confirmed the plan would not involve further job cuts beyond the 700 management roles it cut earlier this year.
Royal Mail is available increased mailing costs average about 7% and the average parcel price about 4%.
The increase has brought the cost of a first class stamp to 95p and a second class stamp to 68p.
Royal Mail has benefited from a parcel boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said meeting its financial projections this year will depend on its main labor union agreeing a payment agreement. salary that was later declined.
