Royal Mail slapped with huge fine for missing targets as ‘millions of letters arrive late’

Royal Mail was fined £21 million by regulator Ofcom for failing to meet annual first- and second-class mail delivery targets, leading to millions of late letters across the UK.

This marks the third-largest fine ever imposed by the communications watchdog. Ofcom found Royal Mail delivered 77% of first-class mail and 92.5% of second-class mail on time in the 2024-25 financial year, but fell short of targets of 93% and 98.5%.

It is the third year in a row that the British delivery giant has been fined for failing to meet service requirements.

Ofcom executive director Ian Strawhorne said: “Millions of important letters are arriving late and people are not getting what they paid for when they bought stamps.

“These persistent failures are unacceptable and customers expect and deserve better.

“Royal Mail urgently needs to rebuild consumer trust. This means making truly significant improvements, not more empty promises.”

“We have told the company to publicly explain how it will make this change, and we expect to see meaningful progress soon,” Mr. Strawhorne added.

“If this does not happen, penalties are likely to continue.”

Ofcom said its investigation took into account the impact of extreme weather events such as storms and floods, but found Royal Mail was still falling behind its delivery targets between April 2024 and March 2025.

The £21 million fine was reduced from £30 million after Royal Mail accepted liability and agreed to settle the case.

The penalty took into account the loss suffered by customers due to disappointing service and the fact that targets had not been met for three years.

Royal Mail’s financial situation was also taken into account; The company recently returned to annual profits.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “We accept Ofcom’s decision today and will continue to work hard to deliver further sustainable improvements to the quality of our service.

“A key area of ​​focus and investment has been the detailed work ahead of the full implementation of our new delivery model, enabled by Ofcom’s changes to universal service.

“This is critical to enable us to make a step change in service quality.

“We have also implemented significant changes across our network, including recruiting, retaining and training our employees and providing additional support to delivery offices.”

The company added that trials of universal service changes in parts of the UK were “working, with improvements in deliveries”.

Ofcom has given the green light for Royal Mail to cancel second-class letter deliveries on Saturdays and change the service to every other weekday; The changes will be implemented in the coming months.

But under its universal service obligation, Royal Mail is required to maintain Monday to Saturday deliveries for first-class mail and maintain its target of second-class letters arriving within three working days.