The Scottish Government is urging parcel delivery firms to sign up to a new code of conduct which aims to avoid penalising customers with "disproportionate costs".

The move comes as research found that one million consumers in rural areas of Scotland are being faced with higher surcharges for delivery because of where they live, new research has revealed.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) said  their study shows that in the three years since they last highlighted the Scots postcode lottery through a survey, surcharges for deliveries have increased. This results in these consumers paying up to four times as much for delivery.

Its survey of the business practices of the same 534 online retailers they surveyed in 2012 showed, surcharges to Highland consumers have risen by 10 percent in real terms, while adjusting for inflation, and by 8.3 percent for people on the islands.

So while delivery prices have stayed the same for most consumers in the UK, the prices Highland and Island consumers have to pay have gone up.

The business minister is now urging  businesses to sign up to the Statement of Principles for Parcel Deliveries, which sets out guidelines calling on them to avoid charging disproportionate delivery costs, provide greater transparency and provide the widest possible delivery coverage.

He said: “It is not fair that communities in the Highlands and Islands continue to be charged an excessive amount when ordering the same items as people in other areas of Scotland and the UK.

“Delivery surcharges not only penalise rural consumers, but also businesses in rural areas are disproportionately affected.

“Citizens Advice Scotland have recently demonstrated that fewer online retailers now impose a surcharge for delivery to remote and rural communities, which is to be welcomed. However, where surcharges are still applied, such charges are now higher than they were three years ago, despite average delivery charges falling in real terms.

“We are studying the recommendations of their recent report carefully and have already had discussions with them and other stakeholders to explore a range of sustainable solutions for rural communities.

“We welcomed the UK Government’s decision to adopt our Statement of Principles across the whole of the UK, and we continue to encourage them to do more to increase buy-in of the principles and the recommendations of the recent Citizens Advice Scotland report on parcel deliveries. This is vital as many internet retailers are based outside of Scotland.

“These principles should apply so that we can have better universality of charges and do not continue to discriminate against areas of periphery, rurality or island living. Retailers should take on board the Principles, and in turn customers, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, will receive a better service.”

David Moyes, policy officer for Citizens Advice Scotland said:  Individuals and businesses continue to be frustrated by unexpected or unaffordable charges, and also by poor communications and misleading price information from some online retailers and delivery companies.

"Throughout our campaigning on this issue we have worked with a number of partners, including the Scottish Government. We welcome their commitment to finding solutions that will help level the playing field for Scotland’s rural businesses and consumers.”