United Kingdom Post Scheme and Overseas Letter Post Scheme Delivery Confirmation and amendments to prohibitions

Transcription

1 United Kingdom Post Scheme and Overseas Letter Post Scheme Delivery Confirmation and amendments to prohibitions November 2016 A decision document Published: 08 November

2 Purpose 1. This document sets out our decision to amend the United Kingdom Post Scheme and Overseas Letter Post Scheme (the "Postal Schemes") to incorporate: Amending the items prohibited from our network within both Schemes to include self-balancing scooters or hoverboards ; and Correcting minor drafting errors in both Schemes. 2. Our consultation included the addition of delivery confirmation to the UK Post Scheme in relation to small and medium parcels sent by First Class and Second Class. Following the consultation we have decided to phase the introduction of delivery confirmation. We are therefore not adding delivery confirmation to the UK Post Scheme at this time. We will issue a new consultation on our proposals for the phased introduction of Delivery Confirmation in the near future. 3. We received one joint response to our consultation from Citizens Advice (CitA) and the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (CCNI). CitA and CCNI broadly welcomed Royal Mail s proposal to include a Delivery Confirmation for First and Second Class parcels. They also broadly supported our proposal to remove hoverboards from our network. 4. We will publish details of the new Postal Schemes in the London, Edinburgh & Belfast Gazettes and our website. The new Postal Schemes will take effect on 08 December Background A. Delivery Confirmation 5. Customer needs are changing when it comes to parcel delivery. Having visibility of their item is increasingly important to our customers. Royal Mail is not allowed under the current regulations to provide tracking on USO First and Second Class parcels, but we can provide visibility of delivery events to senders of mail. Independent research commissioned by Royal Mail found that c.90% of business users, including small to medium enterprises (SME s), rated visibility of delivery events as important Royal Mail wants to respond to these changing customer needs. In our consultation we proposed to provide visibility of delivery events for most small and medium USO parcels sent First Class or Second Class within the UK. We believe these changes will move our First and Second Class service for small and medium parcels closer to what our consumers now expect. Further we believe these changes will help support 1 (Business users including SME s sending 20+ parcels a week) Parcels perceptions. Trinity McQueen. March

3 ecommerce. They will provide SMEs using USO parcel services with the ability to confirm delivery in the event of a customer query at no extra cost. B. Amending our prohibitions list 7. A self-balancing scooter or "hoverboard" as it is commonly referred to, is a type of, rechargeable battery-powered scooter. They typically consist of either one wheel or two wheels arranged side-by-side, with two small platforms upon which the rider stands. The device is controlled by the rider's feet, standing on the builtin gyroscopic pads. 8. There are a number of issues with carrying these items in our network. In most cases they use a battery greater than 100wh. This size battery poses serious safety concerns, in particular there have been reports of them combusting. These incidents have been widely reported in the media In response to concerns over the size of the battery, many of the air carriers that Royal Mail uses to fly parcels (both within the UK and overseas) have issued explicit notice that they will no longer carry these specific items. 10. Therefore, in light of the safety concerns and in order to comply with airlines terms and conditions we believe it is necessary for Royal Mail to prohibit hoverboards completely from our network. C. Correcting drafting errors in the scheme 11. We intend to correct minor drafting errors in the UK Post Scheme. The majority of these relate to typographical errors and amendment to section numbering and cross references as a result of the changes described within this consultation document. Summary of Changes 12. We intend to make an addition to the United Kingdom Post Scheme and Overseas Letter Post Scheme to include the following substantive changes: Dangerous goods UK Post Scheme:- sections Overseas Letter Post Scheme:- section 5.3 (23) Minor scheme corrections UK Post Scheme:- sections 9.1, , 12.2,

4 Consideration of responses Delivery Confirmation 13. We received one response to our consultation. CitA and CCNI broadly welcomed Royal Mail s proposal to include Delivery Confirmation for First and Second Class parcels. 14. CitA/CCNI noted in their response that Delivery Confirmation will not apply to franked and meter parcels at this time. They noted it will also not apply to letters or larger letters. To minimise confusion, CitA/CCNI recommend Royal Mail prepares a detailed and widespread communication plan to raise awareness of this feature for all consumers. CitA and CCNI also asked that Royal Mail ensure that Post Office Ltd (POL) put in place a robust training plan for all of staff and operators/agents. CitA/CCNI noted that for online-bought postage the onus will be on the sender to ensure the barcoded label is properly affixed to the item. It requested that Royal Mail consider rewording this condition to put the onus on POL staff rather than consumers. 15. Royal Mail will publish details of the changes on its consumer facing website. We will ensure that POL brief all staff serving customers in Post Office branches about Delivery Confirmation. We would note that the introduction of Delivery Confirmation should not significantly impact the customer journey at the POL counter. The only difference should be that customers will be able to use the unique customer reference number printed on their receipt to access Royal Mail s online portal to see Delivery Confirmation. 16. Customers who have bought online postage will continue to print their own postage label and fix to their parcel. Putting the onus onto POL counter staff to affix the postage label would be a significant change to current process and not practical. 17. While pricing does not feature in the consultation, CitA/CCNI asked for assurance that any costs would not be passed onto consumers. As this falls outside the scope of this consultation, we will respond separately to CITA and CCNI on this issue. Changes to the launch date of Delivery Confirmation 18. We want to ensure our customers receive the best possible experience when they use Delivery Confirmation. Since our consultation we have had the opportunity to consider how we can ensure Delivery Confirmation is deployed as smoothly as possible. We have therefore decided to take a phased approach to roll out. We now intend to launch Delivery Confirmation to Royal Mail s online channel in January 2017, with full deployment in POL planned for April This phased deployment will allow Royal Mail to ensure any issues can be managed appropriately. This will ensure a better consumer experience. 19. Given the change we have made to our launch dates, and that this will require a change to the Postal Scheme wording on which we originally consulted, we will 4

5 shortly be launching a separate consultation on our new timetable for deployment before amending the Scheme. 20. As a result, we are therefore not amending the Postal Schemes to accommodate Delivery Confirmation at this time. Dangerous goods 21. Regarding our proposal to remove hoverboards from our network, CitA/CCNI acknowledged that health and safety issues are paramount and measures should always be taken to ensure the protection of staff and consumers. However, they suggested that Royal Mail consider contacting trade bodies or manufactures to notify their customers before making the change. CitA/CCNI also suggested Royal Mail provide information on the proposed amendment to all POL staff and ensure this change is part of any up-coming training programmes. We will ensure that POL brief all staff serving customers in Post Office branches about Delivery Confirmation. We will brief key trade bodies, to make them aware of the change. 22. Following consideration of CitA/CCNIs response we intend to adopt the changes in relation to dangerous goods, as consulted on, into the United Kingdom Post Scheme and Overseas Letter Post Scheme on the 08 December The changes will be communicated to customers immediately online and in the next update of our customer facing literature. Timescales and next steps 23. We plan to publish details of the new Postal Schemes in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes and on our website. We have formally notified 3 Ofcom, CitA and CCNI of the new Postal Schemes. 24. The new Postal Schemes will be called the Royal Mail United Kingdom Post Scheme 08 December 2016 and the Overseas Letter Post Scheme 08 December 2016 and will take effect on the date contained within the title. 3 Made under Designated Universal Service Provider (DUSP) Regulatory Condition