Royal Mail has been fined £21m by the communications regulator Ofcom for failing to meet its annual delivery targets for first- and second-class mail. Ofcom found that the company delivered only 77% of first-class mail and 92.5% of second-class mail on time during the 2024-25 financial year, well short of its targets of 93% and 98.5% respectively.
This is the third time the 509-year-old postal service has been fined by Ofcom, and the penalty is the third-largest the regulator has ever issued. Ofcom launched a six-month investigation in May after Royal Mail missed its targets for the previous year, resulting in fines totalling over £16m.
Ofcom's director of enforcement, Ian Strawhorne, said: 'Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren't getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp. These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.' He urged Royal Mail to publish and deliver a credible improvement plan urgently.
The fine was reduced by 30% from £30m because Royal Mail admitted liability and agreed to settle. The company said it would continue to work on improvements, including changes to recruitment and training, and additional support to delivery offices. A spokesperson highlighted the implementation of a new delivery model enabled by Ofcom's changes to the universal service obligation (USO), which they said was showing positive results in pilot areas.
In April, Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský completed a £3.6bn purchase of Royal Mail's owner, International Distribution Services, after a UK government national security review. The same month, the price of a first-class stamp rose to £1.70, and second-class to 87p. In July, Ofcom allowed IDS to loosen its USO, ending Saturday second-class deliveries and reducing services to alternating weekdays, though this is not yet fully implemented.
