Moray MP Douglas Ross has called for a debate in the House of Commons after new figures showed a surge in the cost of “rip-off” delivery charges.
A paper published by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) estimated that shoppers paid an extra £43.1million for parcels in 2020, up from £40millon in 2019 and £38million in 2018.
The report found that the Covid-19 lockdown led to a big increase in online shopping, which in turn has meant more surcharges for customers
The study showed that people living in Moray, the Highlands and parts of Aberdeenshire were worst affected.
For Moray, the research suggests that the additional cost to local consumers as a result of these charges was nearly £3million.
Scottish Conservative MP for Moray Douglas Ross said:
"Long before the Coronavirus pandemic, consumers in Moray were being hammered by extra delivery charges which is why I have been raising this in Parliament and highlighting unacceptable practice from retailers who seem content to add on these charges just because of our postcode.
“Too many companies treat people living in areas like Moray as if they are not part of mainland Scotland.
"I have campaigned to scrap these rip-off charges, but these figures clearly show that it remains a big problem.
“The lockdown has only served to increase the costs faced by consumers who often have little choice but to shop online.
"This is totally unnecessary and unfair - people should not be penalised based on where they live.
“I have now applied for a debate on this in the House of Commons as it has gone on for too long."