Major changes to Royal Mail delivery times take effect today
Great changes in the delivery times and objectives of Royal Mail came into force while trying to reduce the costs and modernize the service.
As of today, Royal Mail may begin to give second -class letters on an alternative weekday instead of six days a week. The goal of delivering these letters will remain within three working days after the collection, but the letters will no longer be delivered on Saturdays.
The first class article will maintain Monday-Saturday delivery.
The change comes with the relaxation of the current delivery targets of Royal Mail. The service will now aim to deliver 95 percent of the second -class mail within 98.5 percent within three days.
Meanwhile, the delivery goal for the first -class article fell from 93 percent to 90 percent delivered next day.
Ofcom said that more loose targets come with a new, applicable backstop target to ensure that 99 percent of the mail should be delivered two days later. This is to reduce a subject in which “many people live in the arrival of letters”.
Second -class delivery reforms are not expected to enter into force in almost all positions, but will be released for the next 12 to 18 months. Royal mail has already started pilots in 37 of the 1,200 delivery office.
According to OCOM, changes come after a long consultation and will help Royal Mail to reduce the cost of £ 250 million to £ 425 million per year.
The plans met with criticism from consumer and business groups as well as concerns from trade unions.
Ofcom, as people send much less letters and the cost of stamps increases, Royal Mail said that service reform is necessary to help “survive”.
He added that he started a review of the price of stamps with concerns about welcoming with a consultation for next year.
Natalie Black, the Networks and Communication Group Director of Ofcom, said: “These changes are in the benefit of consumers and businesses, because the emergency reform of the postal service is necessary to give the chance to survive.
“However, changing the Royal Mail’s obligations alone will not guarantee a better service – the company now has to play the role and apply it effectively.”
Although Royal Mail has increased the cost of a first-class stamp to £ 1.70 after a few walks in recent years, 2023-24 lost £ 348 million.
The changes were also launched in May, following heavy fines against Royal Mail for low performance, and delivered more than three quarters of the first -class mail last year.
The revision comes after the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP group after the government was cleaned by the government at the end of 2024, after the last 3.6 billion of the EP group of Daniel Kretinsky’s EP group.
After the agreement, Mr. Kretinsky, who was called the new president of Royal Mail, promised to remain loyal to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) after the inheritance process.
