Royal Mail ordered to continue freepost service to medical testing company
The High Court has granted an interim injunction ordering Royal Mail to continue providing a freepost service to Preventx, a medical testing provider. It found that Royal Mail’s contractual terms could amount to an abuse of a dominant position, including through the imposition of an unreasonably short notice period for migrating to new terms.
Preventx had not set out an arguable case in its application for an injunction as regards its allegations of unfair trading terms and limitation of the market.
The High Court granted an injunction to restrain Royal Mail until trial or further order from: 1) refusing to continue to provide its Freepost Standard service to Preventx for returns of test samples for so long as it cannot offer its Tracked returns service and 2) refusing to process and deliver test samples returned to Preventx bearing labels for the Freepost Standard service.
The Court found that Royal Mail’s £3.50 offer to process returned test samples is “substantially higher” than the current rate and is “in effect a coercive threat to persuade Preventx” to use the tracked service.
Preventx Limited v Royal Mail Group Limited [2020] EWHC 2276 (Ch)
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