Compliance is the requirement of all Royal Mail business divisions to adhere to the obligations imposed on it by law and the regulatory framework for the provision of postal services. Royal Mail Wholesale is a trading business of Royal Mail Group Ltd and is required to comply with all relevant UK laws.

The Legal and Compliance teams at Royal Mail Group and its various business units seek to ensure that the business complies with the competition rules as set out in the Competition Act 1998, as well as all the obligations placed upon it by its regulator, Ofcom and all other relevant laws and regulations.

What are the regulations that apply to RM Wholesale?

Royal Mail businesses must comply with the regulatory conditions imposed by Ofcom. The condition that is particularly relevant to Royal Mail Wholesale, is the Universal Service Provider Access (USPA) Condition.

The USPA Condition requires that Royal Mail Wholesale negotiates in good faith and in a timely fashion with any person seeking access to the Royal Mail operational network. 

It also requires that Royal Mail ensures it does not:

• unfairly discriminate between Wholesale customers (i.e. treat one Wholesale customer less favourably than another) or against Wholesale customers (i.e. unfairly favour our own Retail customers over Wholesale customers); and
• share information that is not publicly available about Wholesale customers or the activities of the Wholesale team which we have as a result of providing Wholesale services (Wholesale Information) with our Retail business.
  

Will Access mail be processed at a disadvantage compared to other mail going through the Royal Mail network?

In order for us to meet our obligations under the USPA Condition we have set up a Wholesale business that is separate from Royal Mail Retail. Royal Mail Wholesale has its own Customer Management Team to ensure all confidential and commercial information exchanged with Wholesale customers cannot be used by the Retail business of Royal Mail. If customers have a single point of contact for all their Retail and Wholesale mail queries, there would be a significant risk of Royal Mail breaching its obligations.

What processes does Royal Mail have in place to ensure Royal Mail Wholesale remains compliant?

Royal Mail takes compliance with all of its legal and regulatory obligations very seriously, and this includes USPA5.  We have very strict processes and procedures in place to minimise the risk of undue disclosures of USPA5 sensitive information to anyone not authorised to see it.  This includes, for example, a strict authorisation process, requiring advanced USPA5 training and a signed NDA before anyone can receive USPA5 sensitive information, appropriate controls on systems access and ring-fencing of wholesale data on systems, and inclusion of USPA5 training for all staff in induction and annual refresher training.

Yes. All postal services are offered to all Wholesale customers on the same terms and prices. The terms and specifications for each of Royal Mail Wholesale's services are available on our website.

Royal Mail Group is committed to ensuring that any representations made to it about compliance with relevant regulatory conditions are fully investigated and a response provided.