Royal Mail has been fined £21 million by communications regulator Ofcom for failing to meet its first and second class mail delivery targets for the 2024/25 year. This marks the third consecutive year the company has breached its regulatory obligations. During the period of April 2024 to March 2025, Royal Mail delivered only 77 percent of first class mail on time and 92.5 percent of second class mail on time, significantly missing the targets of 93 percent and 98.5 percent respectively.
Ofcom stated that Royal Mail took insufficient steps to prevent this failure, impacting millions of customers who did not receive the service they paid for. The £21 million fine, which will be paid to the Treasury, reflects a reduced amount due to Royal Mail's admission of liability and agreement to settle. This latest penalty follows previous fines of £5.6 million in November 2023 and £10.5 million in December 2024.
The regulator acknowledged exceptional weather events, such as Storms Darragh and Eowyn, and the Christmas period exclusion when considering performance. However, the overall performance was deemed unacceptable. Ofcom has directed Royal Mail to publicly present a credible plan for significant and continuous improvement, warning that further fines are likely if progress is not made. Ofcom has also introduced new enforceable "backstop" targets requiring 99 percent of mail to be delivered no more than two days late.
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