Britain's communications regulator Ofcom said today it has fined International Distributions Services-owned Royal Mail £5.6m over its failure to meet delivery targets over the past year.
In May, Ofcom had said it was probing the company over its failure to meet delivery targets for the year to the end of March, 2023.
Royal Mail blamed union disputes that led to strikes for its failure to meet the goals.
Even after adjusting the impact of industrial action, extreme weather and the Stansted runway closure on Royal Mail's performance, the regulator found the company had breached its obligations.
"Clearly, the pandemic had a significant impact on Royal Mail's operations in previous years. But we warned the company it could no longer use that as an excuse, and it just hasn't got things back on track since," said Ian Strawhorne, director of enforcement at Ofcom.
Ofcom added that the penalty includes a 30% reduction to reflect Royal Mail's admissions of liability and its agreement to settle the case.
The more than five-century-old Royal Mail, which was privatised in 2013, lost millions of pounds as a result of the strikes over pay and conditions last year.
Early in 2023 it also had to navigate a ransomware attack that affected its international deliveries.
