UK's Royal Mail Managers Faked Deliveries To Receive Bonuses In Fresh Scandal: Report

A scandal has been unearthed in Britain where the Royal Mail managers seemingly faked deliveries in order to inflate their bonuses. As per a report in The Telegraph, postal workers were told by their bosses to record packages as "attempted deliveries" without knocking on people's doors. While the parcel would not be delivered, the customer operations managers would still receive their mid-year bonuses which is dependent on hitting targets for the number of parcels that leave Royal Mail depots.

One of the postal workers revealed that they were asked to scan items as "inaccessible" and report them "three or four times". Notably, scanning a parcel as "inaccessible" sends a message to the customer, saying that the delivery was attempted and another attempt will be made the following day. However, that is a lie as no attempt to deliver the parcel was made.

"I can't honestly say I'd know what would happen if I refused to do it, as I never have," said the unnamed worker.

"Obviously, it probably is unethical to do something like that, as it is dishonest - and the customer is expecting their parcel. I don't feel comfortable doing it. There is a culture of greed from the managers, and they just care about their bonuses."

As per job advertisements, a customer operations manager's salary ranges between £44,500 (Rs 47.4 lakh) and £49,000 (Rs 52.3 lakh) with a "10 per cent on-target bonus". It means a manager could receive nearly £5,000 (Rs 5.3 lakh) a year if they met all the targets. However, the postmen would receive just £200 (Rs 21,348) in two £100 (Rs 10,674) bonus payments.

Reacting to the news, Justin Madders, the minister for postal services, said he was "disturbed" and called on Royal Mail to investigate.

Also Read | UK Approves Centuries-Old Royal Mail's Takeover By Czech Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group

Royal Mail takeover

The scandal comes in the backdrop of the UK government approving the takeover of Royal Mail's parent company by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group. The takeover of International Distribution Services (IDS) is worth £3.6 billion ($4.5 billion).

Both parties had been waiting for the government's green light since IDS in May accepted the takeover offer from the EP Group, which already held a nearly 28-percent stake.

Royal Mail delivers letters and parcels to over 231 countries and territories worldwide. However, in recent months, it has been losing ground to the likes of Amazon Logistics, Evri, DHL, and others.