19 September 2013

Print and Mail companies will suffer if Royal Mail's plans to overhaul charges to its Postcode Address File (PAF) licence go ahead

The Royal Mail believes that a simpler approach to licensing PAF is required to meet current and future needs. The proposal aims to incentivise take up and encourage greater use of PAF. However this proposal risks big price hikes for businesses that use PAF, such as for bulk mailing and address searches for online customer form filling. 

It is suggested that under the proposed new system of charging, which is currently under consultation, businesses will instead be charged 1-8 pence every time an address is checked against PAF. The potential extra costs are huge, especially for bulk mailers. For a mailing house that mailed 2.5m letters a month it could see monthly costs rise from between £24,000 to £200,000. If costs are passed on to customers it is feared that this will encourage them to swap mail for email.

BPIF chief executive Kathy Woodward said: "Anything that makes mailing less attractive is harmful to the industry. But coming up to privatisation I would expect Royal Mail to encourage growth scenario rather than do anything that negatively impacts their distribution volumes."

The DMA believes that PAF licensing needs to be simplified to increase the number of business users however believes the Royal Mail should implement the changes without increasing costs for their business customers.

If you have an opinion please respond to the consultation document letting your voice count.

Go to this link to do so: Click here