9th Mar 10
New Royal Mail deal could see more junk mail sent to homes
by Sally Davies
Postmen will be cluttering out mail boxes with even more junk mail after it has been disclosed as the Royal Mail industrial dispute comes to an end.
Current regulations limit the number of junk mail items per household to three times per week, however unions have agreed to scrap the cap as part of the inflation-busting pay agreement.
Residents can now anticipate receiving more unaddressed flyers, leaflets and letters as Royal Mail tries to cash in on a lucrative new revenue strategy.
The Communications Workers Union had been trying to maintain the cap on the grounds that postmen’s delivery bags were already too heavy, however has appeared to have accepted junk mail is central to the Royal Mail’s financial future.
The company, which is owned by the Government, presently has around a quarter of the unaddressed letter market and now hopes to gain some ground to lost rivals.
A spokesman for Customer Focus has said that customers concerned about being inundated can enter into an opt-out scheme, but must be aware that this may also block mailings that they may want to receive.
A Royal Mail spokesman had predicted that there would not be an increase in junk deliveries to households because it expected to take business from rivals rather than attracting new clients.
Four years ago, a Welsh postman was suspended from his rounds for telling customers that they could opt out of receiving junk mail by signing up to the Mailing Preference Service.
Publicity from this case led to a widespread revolt across the nation, with many thousands of people asking for their names to be added to the service.
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