Royal Mail fined for sending 300,000 nuisance emails

Royal Mail (LSE: RMG.L - news) has been fined £12,000 for sending more than 300,000 nuisance emails.

The Information Commissioner's Office said that on two dates in July last year, the company sent emails to 327,014 people who had previously opted out of receiving direct marketing.

The emails were about a drop in prices for parcels.

But the company broke the law because it did not have recipients' permission to send them.

One of those recipients complained to the ICO, which investigated.

The Royal Mail had argued that the messages were a service rather than marketing, but the information commissioner concluded the opposite.

ICO head of enforcement Steve Eckersley said: "Royal Mail did not follow the law on direct marketing when it sent such a huge volume of emails, because the recipients had already clearly expressed they did not want to receive them.

"These rules are there for a reason - to protect people from the irritation and, on occasions, distress nuisance emails cause. I hope this sends the message that we will take action against companies who flout them."

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We take the privacy of our customers extremely seriously.

"We are very sorry that we let some of our customers down on this occasion.

"Following this incident, we have tightened up our processes and governance measures still further.

"We are also launching additional training for colleagues."