July 21, 2022
(press release)
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Ofcom’s regulatory review does not go far enough to address the challenges facing our business. We are very disappointed that Ofcom has not taken the opportunity to allow Royal Mail to offer tracking on the products we offer the general public under the Universal Service. Tracking is no longer seen as an optional extra or a premium offer, it is a necessity. The very purpose of the Universal Service is to offer postal services not provided by the market at a uniform affordable price throughout the UK - and tracking for all, at an affordable and common price for everyone, should be a feature of a modern postal Universal Service in 2022. If regulation is a blocker to modernisation it will increasingly put the finances of the Universal Service at risk, threatening the ongoing sustainability of the one-price-goes-anywhere postal services that customers rely on. We urge Ofcom to reconsider this decision. On customer complaints, Ofcom proposes to issue guidance to all parcel firms regarding their complaints handling procedures, including setting out who to contact, how the complaints process works and how long the complaint will take to resolve. As the Universal Service Provider, Royal Mail’s USO services are already subject to this type of guidance and we recognise Ofcom’s efforts to level the playing field amongst all parcel operators.
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