Emirates Post has upgraded its Public P.O. Box service, which allows residents and visitors to have a common P.O. Box address for receiving mail through any of the post-offices in the UAE.

The move to encourage people to use the Public P.O. Box service stems from Emirates Post’s strategy to take a larger share of e-commerce deliveries, as e-commerce is projected to boom in the years to come.

Each post office in the UAE has a unique Public P.O. Box number, which can be obtained from the post office or by visiting Emirates Post Group website and clicking on the link https://www.epg.gov.ae/portal/_en/locations.xhtml. There is no registration required. People can give this P.O. Box number, along with their mobile number, to senders of mail and parcels, including e-commerce companies.

“Emirates Post is pleased to enhance the Public P.O. Box service with new features, because we believe it brings great value-addition to e-commerce as a cost-effective last-mile delivery option for those buying products online,” said Acting Chief Commercial Officer of EPG, Mr. Obaid Mohammed Al Qatami. “As we have a large network of post offices spread across the UAE, we are in a strong position to cater to the needs of a segment of population that does not own individual P.O. Boxes.”

The Public P.O. Box service is targeted at people who do not have their own P.O. Boxes, such as visit visa holders, working residents who have privacy reasons, sailors and other non-residents who want to have an address in the UAE.

The Public Post Box service allows people to give these P.O. Box numbers to suppliers of online products, or friends and relatives. When a person is expecting mail, he can go to the Registered Mail counter at the particular post office and give his name and ID to the counter staff. He can then collect the mail after paying the specified fee, which has been kept low for public benefit. The charges for the service depend on the type of mail and its weight, and need to be paid each time there is a mail delivery.