Royal Mail is opening up its Postcode Address File to small businesses and charities, giving them free access to its national database of 28m UK post codes and pledging to simplify its pricing structure.
The changes follow calls from the Government “data czar” to make PAF available free of charge to all businesses; a move which was ultimately rejected amid claims that it was being used to fatten up Royal Mail for privatisation.
Under the new plans, Royal Mail will grant independent “micro” businesses one year of free access to the file. Micro businesses are defined as those with less than a £2m annual turnover and which have between one and nine employees.
Small registered charities – those with less than a £10m annual income – will be offered open-ended free access to the PAF. The new licensing arrangements take effect from 1st July.
Among the changes, Royal Mail is also extending the number of postcode inquiries it offers free of charge, from 15 to 50 a day.
Businesses pay for licensing in order to fund the whole service, although its somewhat complex charging structure has long been a bugbear of many in the DM industry.
An industry consultation on the system back in February suggested the need for simplifying the scheme. Royal Mail said it will be consulting on reforms to include a more permissive licensing system that focuses on the direct licensee rather than indirect licensing, placing fewer restrictions on licensees and simplifying pricing from the current 40 price points to a “small number” of licensing options.
Around 60 pages of licensing terms and conditions will be cut to around 10 pages, Royal Mail said.
In a statement, the company added: “We are committed to driving increased usage of this data-set and thus innovation in the data business community to the benefit of the UK economy. We recognise that further simplification and improvement to the current licensing arrangements is required.”
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