Conditions imposed on postal operators

07 December 2023

The Postal Services Act 2011 (“the Act”) replaced the previous licensing regime with a general authorisation regime. This means that operators may provide postal services without the need for any licence or prior authorisation by Ofcom. Ofcom has powers to impose the following types of regulatory conditions under the Act:

  • Designated universal service provider (DUSP) conditions (s36-37 of the Act)
  • Universal service provider access conditions (s38 and Schedule 3)
  • Universal service provider accounting conditions (s39)
  • Notification conditions (s41)
  • General universal service conditions (GUSC) (S42)
  • Essential conditions (s49)
  • General access condition (s50 and Schedule 3)
  • Consumer protection conditions (s51-52)

These conditions are available below.