Royal Mail suggests reforming universal service to save £300 million a year

In response to regulator Ofcom's call for universal service improvements due to dwindling letter volumes, Britain's Royal Mail suggested operational adjustments, including delivering all non-first class and second class mail every other weekday.

The parent company of Royal Mail, International Distributions Services, stated on Wednesday that, should the planned reforms be put into effect, expenses should be reduced by £300 million a year.

According to Ofcom, the number of letters sent has decreased by half since 2011, raising the possibility that the postal service won't be able to continue operating profitably.

Standard bulk business mail will arrive within three weekdays instead of two, the corporation said, while first class mail will be delivered six days a week and the one-price-goes-anywhere service to all parts of the UK would remain unchanged.

During the following 18 to 24 months, the modifications would eliminate 7,000 to 9,000 daily delivery routes, it continued.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)