The charge was brought against Royal Mail by Postwatch, the body that regulates Royal Mail for consumers, on behalf of six unnamed direct marketing firms.
A complaint was initially lodged with the Office of Fair Trading, because of fears among direct marketers that Postcomm is not sufficiently independent of the postal operator. However, the OFT washed its hands of the complaint and handed it to Postcomm.
Postcomm said it gathered evidence to see if there was sufficient grounds to investigate a potential licence breach, but found there was not enough evidence to warrant a competition investigation.
An OFT investigation had been hoped for as there are concerns that there are other possible areas where Royal Mail abuses its dominant position. Mailsort is the Royal Mail service that gives a discount to businesses that carry out their own mail sorting for large volumes of mail.
Chris Gordon, chairman and chief executive of WWAV Rapp Collins, Group said that although the agency had no direct involvement in the complaint, he was disappointed by the result but felt it was inevitable.
"The reality is that, despite past assurances, the current regulatory structure clearly provides inadequate protection against potential anti-competitive behaviour," Gordon said. "Unfortunately this area of regulation comes way down Postcomm's list of priorities, rendering a proactive and coordinated approach to the prevention of market abuse unfeasible."
Postcomm has now closed the case, but said it would open a fresh investigation if new evidence comes to light.
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