Postcomm, the postal regulator, proposed in December that Royal Mail be allowed to set its own prices for the second-class magazine postage service from April, although at the same it reversed an earlier proposal for the first-class service to be freed from the price control.
PPA, the magazine publishers' trade body, having secured the concession on the first-class service, is continuing to lobby for the re-inclusion of the second-class service to be included under Royal Mail price control.
It has already urged its members to write to their MPs, arguing that Postcomm is exposing them to significant price increases due to the lack of regulatory controls and absence of competition in magazine delivery.
Now postal customer group Postwatch has written to all MPs to support a Parliamentary early day motion that urges Postcomm to rethink its proposal.
A Postwatch spokesman said: "We hope that the regulator will look again at its proposal. If it doesn't, magazine publishers will be in the hands of an unregulated de facto monopoly service provider, with no notable competitive options available for years.
"Postwatch welcomes deregulation, but at the right time and for the right products. The regulator has got it wrong on both counts."
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