UK ROYAL MAIL MAKES CHANGES TO SECOND-CLASS POST SERVICES- As approved by Ofcom
Royal Mail has been granted permission by the regulator Ofcom to cease Saturday deliveries for second-class post, effective from 28 July. The postal service will stop its six-day-a-week service for second-class letters, moving them to an alternative weekday schedule.
First-class post will, however, retain its Monday to Saturday delivery. Ofcom confirmed the three-working-day delivery target for second-class letters remains unchanged.
Ofcom said that reforms of the Universal Services Obligation reflected changing behaviour of postal users, with fewer letters being sent across the country. The regulator said it could end up saving the postal delivery service between £250m and £425m each year.
It comes months after the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group finalised a £3.6bln takeover of International Distributions Services, the owner of Royal Mail.
Ofcom’s director for networks and communications, Natalie Black, said that the changes are in the best interests of consumers and businesses, as urgent reform of the postal service is necessary to give it the best chance of survival.
