Royal Mail has been fined £21 million by the regulator for missing their annual first and second-class mail delivery targets.
The Communications watchdog Ofcom said this is the third largest fine ever given as Royal Mail delivered 77% of first class mail and 92.5% of second class mail on time in the 2024-25 financial year.
Ian Strawhorne, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said, “Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency. And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.”
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon,” Strawhorne added.
“If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said, “We acknowledge the decision made by Ofcom today and we will continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service.
“A key area of focus and investment has been the detailed work ahead of full implementation of our new delivery model, enabled by Ofcom’s changes to the universal service.
“This is critical to enable us to drive a step change in quality of service.
“We have also implemented important changes across our network including recruiting, retaining and training our people, and providing additional support to delivery offices.”
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