Under 74% of letters with top-price stamps arrived within one working day, while around 10% of second-class post took longer than three working days to hit the doormat. The firm blamed strikes, which took place on 18 days in the year.
Ofcom’s director of enforcement, Ian Strawthorne, hit out at Royal Mail as he posted the £5.6 million penalty. “The company’s let consumers down, and today’s fine should act as a wake-up call — it must take its responsibilities more seriously,” he warned.
The regulator said: “Given ongoing high absence and vacancies, and delays in bringing service levels back up, we are concerned about the operation of delivery offices, which we view as fundamental to Royal Mail meeting its delivery targets.”
Industrial relations slumped at the former monopoly — which employs 160,000 people — after it started to prioritise the potentially more profitable and fast-growing parcel delivery side of its business over traditional letters.
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