Royal Mail's big fine for failing to deliver

ROYAL Mail has been slapped with another substantial penalty for missing its delivery performance standards.

- Simon HUNT

Watchdog Ofcom has imposed a £21m fine on Britain’s postal operator after just 77% of first class and 92.5% of second class post arrived punctually, falling significantly below the required 93% and 98.5% benchmarks.

The sanction, ranking as the third-largest ever levied by the regulator, marks the third consecutive year Royal Mail has faced financial penalties, following £5.6m in November 2023 and £10.5m in December 2024.

Ofcom determined that Royal Mail had violated its duties by delivering substandard service without adequate justification.

The company adopted “insufficient and ineffective steps” to prevent these shortcomings, affecting millions of consumers who failed to receive the service they purchased.