What buying Royal Mail means for YOU: From ‘one-pay-go-anywhere’ service to delivery days when collection is allowed.

Royal Mail is to be owned by Czech millionaire Daniel Kretinsky – households wonder what it means for them.

Royal Mail is now owned by International Distribution Services (IDS), and last night Labor ministers signed a £3.6 billion withdrawals by Kretinsky.

The deal has been on the table since April to allow Kretinsky’s EP Group to expand its 28 percent stake in IDS.

The takeover will see Royal Mail become the first non-British carrier since the early 1500s.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the Royal Mail withdrawal will affect its customers.

Will the Royal Mail logo change?

No. An important part of the agreement is that the Royal Mail logo will not change for the next five years.

What will happen to stamp duty?

The price of stamps is not determined by agreement, it is a decision of Royal Mail officials.

Currently, a first class stamp costs £1.65 and a second class 85p. In 2013, a first class stamp cost 60p and a second class stamp 50p.

Will Royal Mail service levels change?

Royal Mail’s famous promise – that it will pay one price to send anything anywhere in the country – is being kept.

This is known as ‘one-price-goes-anywhere’, and sees first class mail delivered six days a week.

In theory, the entire service provided by Royal Mail must remain or improve under contract, or the new owners will not make any money.

The contract states that ‘no value will be taken’ if Royal Mail is retained if RMG maintains or improves its performance from its 2023-24 deal.

Last week Royal Mail was slapped with a £10.5million fine by communications regulator Ofcom for failing to meet its transmission targets for first and second class cables.

The postal service is required by law to deliver 93 percent of first-class mail within one business day of collection and 98.5 percent of second-class mail within three business days of collection.

But Ofcom fined Royal Mail after it delivered 74.7 per cent of first-class mail and 92.7 per cent of second-class post in the period between April 2023 and March 2024.

When is the withdrawal?

The process is not yet complete, as shareholders and unions still need to agree, and the Competition and Markets Authority will also look into it.

Existing shareholders of IDS must decide whether they want to sell their shares or not.

EP Group needs to get 75 percent of IDS to complete the deal.

But the Government has said there are no objections to the project, which could be completed by the first quarter of 2025.

What will happen to Royal Mail staff?

Royal Mail will remain in Britain, to maintain operations and pay taxes in the UK.

EG Group said it will enforce agreements with postal unions and will not take any extra money from the Royal Mail Pension Scheme.