Scottish government launches campaign against unfair delivery charges

The Scottish government has launched an action plan to tackle unfair delivery charges to the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) business minister, Jamie Hepburn, revealed Fair Deliveries For All during a speech at the Town House in Inverness on 26th November—which happened to be Cyber Monday, part of the biggest retail event of the year.

Fair Deliveries For All is an eight-point plan designed to improve transparency for consumers and to improve the accuracy of postcode classification tools as used by parcel delivery companies.

At the same time, Hepburn said the Scottish government would be establishing an Improving Consumer Outcomes Fund to combat outsized delivery charges for rural and remote areas of Scotland.

Credit: Katie Barrett

“Online retail is now a well-established phenomenon,” said Hepburn, “on that basis it’s very appropriate for us to ensure that people are not disadvantaged by delivery charges in terms of where they live.”

The government will launch an online portal next year for consumers and businesses to submit their experiences of unfair charges.

Earlier in 2018, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) issued a new enforcement notice against retailers making misleading parcel delivery claims, including claims of free UK delivery if surcharges are applied for remote areas.

Source: The Press and Journal