The Barcode Not Seen adjustment charge was introduced into the Wholesale Parcels Contract on 5 April 2021 alongside the new Manual Mailmark product. It mirrors the principle applied in the Access Letters contract to account for the absence of a readable barcode on an item. At that time, Parcel Sorting Machine (PSM) automation had not yet fully rolled out in Mail Centres and were not fully capable of reading Mailmark barcodes, hence we introduced the Barcode Not Seen adjustment charge at 0p.

Now that we have the technical capability to read Mailmark barcodes on the PSMs, and to bring in line with our retail division, Royal Mail Wholesale is increasing the Barcode Not Seen adjustment charge to £1 per item.

Wholesale Parcels Contract Change Notice 050 gives effect to the change from 22 September 2025.