Royal Mail gets go ahead to axe second-class post on Saturdays

Royal Mail has been given the green light to drop Saturday deliveries of second-class letters and provide services only on alternate weekdays from Monday to Friday under new rules announced by the regulator.

- Kalyeena Makortoff

Ofcom said that the overhaul of the universal services obligation (USO) 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.

First-class letters will still have to be delivered by the next working day, Monday to Saturday, and a cap will continue on the price of a second-class stamp.

Ofcom has lowered targets for first-class post to be delivered the next day from 93% to 90% and second-class to be delivered within three days from 98.5% to 95%. But Ofcom said it was adding a new "enforceable" backstop delivery target, so that 99% of mail had to be delivered no more than two days' late. The new rules will come into force on 28 July.