Ofcom looks at 'Black Friday' postal rule change

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LONDON--Ofcom is looking at changing postal regulation rules to reflect the shifting changes in online shopping, after Royal Mail PLC (RMG.LN) failed to meet its target to deliver 93% of first-class mail within one working day, mainly due to the surge in online shopping deliveries around 'Black Friday.'

It said that generally the postal regulations introduced in 2012 were working and Royal Mail's performance had improved since then.

Royal Mail is exempt from performance targets during December, to reflect the volume of pre-Christmas deliveries. However, retail promotional days, such as 'Black Friday' and 'Cyber Monday' usually fall in November.

Ofcom said the rules were generally working well for people and businesses who use the post and it planned to keep the current framework in place until 2022.

"Royal Mail still has room to improve," Ofcom Competition Director Jonathan Oxley said. "So we'll keep a very close eye on all aspects of the company's performance and step in if we need to protect consumers from high prices."

Royal Mail said it was reviewing the document from Ofcom and would issue a statement in response.