UK's Ofcom revises Royal Mail delivery targets to manage delays

(Reuters) -Britain's media regulator said it had set new minimum acceptable delivery deadlines for Royal Mail to prevent long delays, and changed some existing delivery targets that could help the postal service save up to 425 million pounds ($578.3 million).

Royal Mail, which has been trying to transform and modernise its business as it shifts its focus to parcels, has been fined roughly $20 million over the last two years by Ofcom for failing to meet delivery targets.

Royal Mail must ensure that 99% of mail is delivered no more than two days late, while delivery targets for "First Class" mail have been cut from 93% to 90% delivered next-day and for "Second Class" mail from 98.5% to 95% delivered within three days, Ofcom said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Rashmi Aich)