Royal Mail set to axe Sat 2nd class deliveries under Ofcom proposals

(Sharecast News) - Britain's Royal Mail is set to axe Saturday deliveries and provide an alternate-day service for second class letters, under proposals put forward the regulator Ofcom. The regulator said its provisional findings would continue to meet postal users' needs and save Royal Mail between £250m and £425m a year.

Royal Mail is being sold to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for £3.6bn after the government cleared the deal at the end of last year. He has pledged to stick to the Universal Service Obligation after the takeover.

Ofcom also published plans to cut Royal Mail's main delivery targets, for first class mail from 93% to 90% delivered the next day, and for second class mail from 98.5% to 95% delivered within three days, bringing them more in line with other international and European markets, it added.

"The world has changed - we're sending a third of the letters we were 20 years ago," said Natalie Black, Ofcom's group director for networks and communications.

"We need to reform the postal service to protect its future and ensure it delivers for the whole of the UK.

"But we're safeguarding what matters most to people - first class mail six days a week at the same price throughout the UK, and a price cap on second class stamps."

Ofcom said its latest research revealed most people do not need letter delivery six days a week, with the number delivered each year having slumped from 20 billion two decades ago to around 6.6 billion now and set to drop further to 4 billion in the next few years.

Ofcom is to consult further on its proposals until April 10, with a final decision coming in the summer.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com