Investigation into Royal Mail's quality of service performance in 2021-22

2 December 2022

Closed

Investigation into Royal Mail Group Limited ("Royal Mail")
Case opened 31 May 2022
Case closed 2 December 2022
Summary

After an investigation, we decided that it would not be appropriate to find Royal Mail in breach of its quality of service performance targets for 2021-22

Relevant legal provision(s)

DUSP condition 1.9.1, and Schedule 7 to the Postal Services Act 2011

Ofcom has today announced our decision that it would not be appropriate to find Royal Mail in breach of its quality of service (QoS) targets for the 2021-22 regulatory period.

Ofcom can consider evidence submitted by Royal Mail of any exceptional events, beyond the company’s control, that may have explained why it missed its targets. Having examined Royal Mail’s submission, we accept that, for much of 2021-22, Covid-19 continued to have a significant, pervasive and unprecedented impact on Royal Mail’s operations. This included:

  • unexpected changes in traffic mix (i.e. unusually high volumes of parcels and a lower volume of letters);
  • increased and unpredictable staff absences; and
  • continued challenges presented by social distancing measures.

In our view, had it not been for the impact of Covid-19, Royal Mail’s performance levels would have been significantly higher, and it is possible that it may have met its targets. As such, and as noted above, we decided it was not appropriate to find Royal Mail in breach of its regulatory obligations for 2021-22.

More information about our decision is available in the non-confidential decision document (PDF, 271.5 KB) published today.


Contact

Enforcement team (enforcement@ofcom.org.uk)

Case reference CW/01260/05/22