Royal Mail came under fire yesterday over a plan to sell cheaper stamps to five million customers on benefits.
Since the Penny Black was introduced in 1840, the company has delivered a letter anywhere from the Scottish highlands to the Cornish coast for a uniform price.
But embattled boss Moya Greene said Royal Mail planned to break with tradition and make cheaper stamps available for ‘the most vulnerable members of society’ this Christmas.
Cut price: Since the Penny Black was introduced all stamps have been priced the same - but now benefit claimants may be in line for a discount
They will be able to buy stamps at 2011 prices – 46p for first-class and 36p for second-class – while everybody else will be hit by price hikes from April.
The move – labelled ‘means-testing’ by angry MPs – threatens to spark chaos by creating two-tier stamp prices, with around five million people expected to be eligible for the discount.
Royal Mail refused to reveal many details about the scheme, but did say that anyone who receives Pension Credit, Incapacity Benefit or its replacement, Employment and Support Allowance, will get the discount.
Around 2.6million elderly receive Pension Credit, which tops up their weekly income by an average of £33 a week.
Benefits discount: Although stamp prices will go up in April, five million people on benefits will be eligible to buy them at 2011 prices, under the controversial plan
But the controversy surrounds those on Incapacity Benefit, which closed to new claimants in 2008, and the Employment and Support Allowance, which ministers have admitted includes many fraudulent claims.
Around 1.95million claim Incapacity Benefit, with a further 662,000 on Employment and Support Allowance.
It raises the prospect of benefit cheats being allowed cheaper stamps.
Around 55 per cent of all ‘personal’ mail sent each year, such as Christmas cards and thank-you letters, is sent over the festive season.
The move comes at a controversial time, with Royal Mail on the brink of revealing huge increases in stamp prices.
The postal regulator, Ofcom, wants to scrap the cap which limits the amount Royal Mail can charge for the price of sending a letter or a parcel. An announcement from the company is expected within weeks.
During a heated grilling by MPs yesterday on the business, innovation and skills committee, Miss Greene admitted: ‘I think prices in the UK will have to rise.’
Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi, who sits on the committee, rubbished the plan to offer cheaper stamps to vulnerable people.
The former entrepreneur said: ‘How are they going to do it? How are they going to police it? If you go into a Post Office wearing a scruffy coat, will you get cheaper stamps?
‘Do you just send out your granny, who gets Pension Credit, to buy all the stamps? Is there a cap of ten on how many stamps you can buy? This is means-testing of stamps.’
Emma Boon, campaign director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘This is a ridiculously complicated way of solving a problem that only exists because of Royal Mail’s inefficiency.
‘Taxpayers want to see improved standards and a change to working practices that are out of date, not a complicated system of reduced prices for those who are on certain benefits.’
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