Royal Mail gets Ofcom's initial conclusion on Whistl dispute

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Ofcom has proposed a solution to the wrangle between Royal Mail and logistics company Whistl.

The telecoms regulator was asked to intervene in the dispute between Royal Mail and logistics company Whistl over access rights to Royal Mail's letter delivery network.

Whistl requested a tracked large letter service from Royal Mail but raised concerns about the terms offered by Royal Mail.

It alleged that Royal Mail, which is part of International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS), broke these requirements when the latter attempted to pass certain costs associated with the access requirement onto Whistl.

Ofcom has provisionally concluded that Royal Mail can pass on the costs of complying with its obligations under access condition UPSA 5.3 to Whistl.

“In our view, compliance with USPA 5.3 is an integral part of providing an access service and therefore it is fair and reasonable for the costs to secure compliance,” the regulator said.

The regulator also looked into whether Whistl can consent in writing to the disclosure or use by Royal Mail of its information.

It provisionally concluded that although Whistl can mechanically consent in writing to the disclosure or use of information Royal Mail would obtain as a result of providing the tracked large letter service that has been requested by Whistl, in the specific context of providing the service requested, in the specific context of providing the service requested, we consider that USPA 53 continues to apply.

“In our view, we consider Whistl’s consent was related only to the disclosure of its information and not its use, and therefore there was not a full disapplication of USPA 5.3,” Ofcom said.

Both parties have until 5pm on September 27 2023 to comment on these provisional conclusions.

Shares in IDS, the owner of Royal Mail, were down 1.7% at 257.90p.