Royal Mail has been fined £21million for missing its annual first and second class mail delivery targets.
Millions of letters arrived late across the UK, leading to Royal Mail being slapped with the third-largest fine ever imposed by Ofcom.
The delivery giant delivered 77 per cent of first class mail and 92.5 per cent of second class mail on time during the 2024-25 financial year, Ofcom found.
This was short of its respective 93 per cent and 98.5 per cent targets.
Director of Enforcement at Ofcom, Ian Strawhorne, said: "Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp.
"These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better."
"Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency. And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises."
Ofcom said it considered the effects of exceptional weather events in its investigation, such as storms and floods, but found that Royal Mail still fell short of its delivery targets between April 2024 and March 2025.
Royal Mail has been fined by Ofcom due to 'millions of letters arriving late'
| PAThe £21million penalty was reduced from £30million as a result of Royal Mail admitting liability and agreeing to settle the case.
The fine took into account the harm suffered by customers as a result of the disappointing service.
Ofcom also said the fine was due to the fact that targets had been missed for three years.
It also considered Royal Mail’s financial position, with it having recently returned to an annual profit.
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Royal Mail has said they will 'continue to work hard'
| GETTY IMAGESA spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We acknowledge the decision made by Ofcom today and we will continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service.
"A key area of focus and investment has been the detailed work ahead of full implementation of our new delivery model, enabled by Ofcom’s changes to the universal service.
"This is critical to enable us to drive a step change in quality of service.
"We have also implemented important changes across our network including recruiting, retaining and training our people, and providing additional support to delivery offices."
The company added that trials of the universal service changes were "working, with improvements in deliveries" in parts of the UK.
Ofcom gave the green light to Royal Mail to scrap second class letter deliveries on Saturdays and change the service to every other weekday.
The changes are set to be rolled out in the coming months.
But under its universal service obligation, Royal Mail must keep Monday to Saturday deliveries for first-class post and maintain the target for second-class letters to arrive within three working days.
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