Ofcom to probe Royal Mail over delivery target failures

According to Ofcom rules, Royal Mail must deliver 93% of first class mail within one working day of collection and 98.5% of second class mail within three working days of collection.

However, the regulator said on Tuesday that across 2021-22 only 81.8% of first class mail and 95.4% of second class mail was delivered before the respective deadlines. Ofcom also noted that Royal Mail had set itself a target of completing 99.9% of delivery routes on each day that delivery is required but has only managed to complete 94.09% of routes.

"Royal Mail is also required to deliver 91.5% of first class stamped and metered mail products within one working day in 118 postcode areas of the UK – but it didn't meet this target in any of these postcode areas," said Ofcom.

"Ofcom takes quality of service very seriously. In our investigation we will gather evidence to understand the reasons behind this lapse in performance, and will determine whether Royal Mail has breached its requirements."

As of 1325 BST, Royal Mail shares were down 4.09% at 315.46p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com