The Postal Services (EC Directive) Regulations 2002

Amendments to the Postal Services Act 2000

4.  After section 7 of the Act, insert—

“7A Scope of the universal postal service: meaning

(1) For the purposes of section 7(1A), a postal service is outside the scope of the universal postal service in the United Kingdom if it is not, or is not substantially similar to, a postal service within subsection (2).

(2) A postal service is within this subsection if it is a postal service—

(a) which a postal operator is required to provide in the discharge of any duty to provide a universal postal service, or part of such a service,—

(i) imposed under section 3(2) as a condition of the operator’s licence under Part II, or

(ii) included in his licence as a condition by virtue of section 13(1), or

(b) which a postal operator is required to provide in the discharge of any duty to provide a postal service imposed on him by an order under section 102(2).

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), a postal service is not to be regarded as being not substantially similar to a postal service within subsection (2) merely because—

(a) the service in question does not comply with section 4(1),

(b) where the person providing the service provides it only to persons within a class specified by him for the purposes of its provision, it is not available to all persons within that class, or

(c) where the service has the characteristic of three day delivery, it also has one or more of the characteristics mentioned in subsection (4).

(4) Those characteristics are that—

(a) the service provides for the collection of a postal packet at a place specified by the sender of the packet,

(b) the service provides for the delivery of a postal packet at or by a time specified by the sender of the packet,

(c) the service provides for the delivery of a postal packet to be recorded, and

(d) the service provides for postage to be chargeable in a form or manner, or to be paid at a time or in a manner, different from that provided for by a postal service within subsection (2).

(5) For the purposes of subsection (3)(c), a postal service has the characteristic of three day delivery if, in all or the majority of cases in which a postal packet is sent by it, it seeks to deliver the packet before the end of the period of three working days beginning with the day after the day on which it is received or collected.”.