The Communication Workers Union has demanded that regular Ofcom steps in to protect the universal postal service. It has joined a lobby with Royal Mail to press TNT Post UK to accept that it must adhere to the same requirements as Royal Mail by delivering mail itself to every UK address for one standardised rate, rather than simply cherry pick the lucrative areas.
Addressed mail volumes have been falling due to the rise in email usage. With the TNT Post UK proposition spanning the east to service areas like those across London, Manchester and Liverpool, Royal Mail is being left with the burden of picking up and servicing the more costly locations.TNT Post UK is now understood to be delivering to 1.2 million UK addresses and has won businesses from utility businesses and other high volume transactional mail together with direct marketing customers. This means that Royal Mail’s rates will likely have to rise significantly if it is to continue to be required to provide a universal postal service to cover its service for the more costly delivery destinations which are not currently serviced by, and are unlikely ever to be serviced by other postal carriers themselves other than at a premium charge.
Union general secretary Billy Hayes said “Failure to act will compromise Ofcom’s ability to meet its statutory duties. Other postal companies who directly deliver to customers are not held to the same standards as Royal Mail and this means competition is unfair.”
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