Royal Mail Group Limited

In 2018, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £50 million after finding that the company abused its dominant position in the market for bulk mail delivery. The case followed a complaint from Whistl, Royal Mail's main competitor in end-to-end bulk mail delivery. Ofcom found that Royal Mail introduced discriminatory wholesale pricing changes in 2014 that would have made it more difficult for competing delivery operators to expand. Ofcom concluded that Royal Mail did not have a legitimate justification for the price differential and that internal documents indicated the changes formed part of a deliberate strategic response to the competitive threat from Whistl. The Competition Appeal Tribunal later upheld Ofcom's decision. Sources: Ofcom — economic analysis of the Royal Mail/Whistl case https://www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/economic-insights-2019-royal-mail-competition-case UK concurrency report summarising the infringement https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811431/ACR_PV2406.pdf

In November 2023, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £5.6 million for failing to meet its First and Second Class delivery targets in the 2022/23 financial year. Royal Mail was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days. Its reported performance was 73.7% and 90.7% respectively. Even after Ofcom adjusted for industrial action, extreme weather and the Stansted runway closure, Royal Mail still fell materially short of its obligations. Ofcom said the company took insufficient steps to prevent the failure and that customers suffered considerable harm. Royal Mail admitted liability and settled the case, receiving a 30% reduction in the penalty. Source: Ofcom https://www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/royal-mail-fined-for-missing-delivery-targets

In December 2024, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £10.5 million for again failing to meet its regulated First and Second Class delivery targets. For the 2023/24 financial year, Royal Mail delivered only 74.7% of First Class mail on time and 92.7% of Second Class mail on time, against regulatory targets of 93% and 98.5%. Ofcom said this was the second sanction in just over a year and concluded that Royal Mail had not significantly improved service levels after the previous £5.6 million penalty. The regulator said persistent failures caused harm to millions of customers who rely on timely postal services. Source: Ofcom https://www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/ofcom-fines-royal-mail-10.5m-for-poor-delivery-performance