Post Office Protests

Subpostmasters held a rally in London today, calling for rural post offices to be saved.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron has also called upon the PM to do more to protect rural post offices.

The BBC website, from which I got the link above, had links to Postcomm which is the government postal industry regulator. Supposedly, new entrants to the market have to be licensed by Postcomm before they can sort or deliver mail.

Is there really any need for regulation in this instance? Yes, naturally people in rural areas would still need to send and receive mail. Still, since a demand for mail services exists within rural areas, then someone will attempt to meet it within the free market. The mail supplier may not even have to be a "for-profit" organisation; it would still have to ensure that its services equated with consumer needs. The postal market should really regulate itself. Companies that offered poor customer service would lose out to those that did offer reasonable services. Independent watchdogs could emerge which informed consumers of bad practice.