Citizens Advice's response to Ofcom's decision on reforming the Universal Service Obligation

Responding to Ofcom’s announcement on the Universal Service Obligation, Tom MacInnes, Director of Policy at Citizens Advice, said:

“Royal Mail has a woeful track record of failing to meet delivery targets, all the while ramping up postage costs. Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change.

“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards. 

“While Ofcom says it recognises the importance of affordability and reliability for consumers, we need to see those words backed by action, forcing Royal Mail to do what it should've been doing all along - giving paying customers a service that delivers.”

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Notes to editors:

  1. Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

  2. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.

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  5. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.

  6. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.