Postal regulation: Transition to the new regulatory framework

Statement published 29|09|11

Summary

1.1 The Postal Services Act 2011 ("the Act") received Royal Assent on 13 June 2011. It provides, amongst other things, for responsibility of regulation for postal services to move from the existing regulator, Postcomm, to Ofcom. It also replaces the existing licensing regime with a general authorisation regime. The general authorisation regime will come into effect on 1 October 2011.

1.2 On 8 August 2011, Ofcom consulted on our proposals for the regulatory regime to apply from 1 October 2011. The consultation closed on 9 September 2011. This document sets out our decisions:

• provisionally to designate Royal Mail as a universal service provider (section 2 and annex 1);
• to re-approve the Postal Redress Service (POSTRS) and the consumer redress scheme criteria (section 2 and annex 7);
• for the regulatory conditions (section 2 and annex 2);
  
• for the charging principles (section 2 and annex 4); and
• for information gathering (section 2 and annex 5).

1.3 Under the Communications Act 2003, we are required to publish an impact assessment where a proposal in connection with the carrying out of our functions is "important". A proposal is "important" if its implementation is likely to involve a major change in the activities carried on by Ofcom or have a significant impact on persons carrying on business in the markets we regulate, or the general public. As stated in our consultation, we do not consider that any of our proposals were "important" in this sense. The activities carried on by Ofcom are changing because of the Act. We are not seeking to make any substantial changes to the regulatory regime. Most of the changes we are making are required by law.