“I’ve never got a letter!” Fury over forced post office fees

In a small office in downtown Kampala, a business owner flips through the key to his company’s post office mailbox.

He has never collected a single letter from it. Yet every year, like thousands of Ugandan entrepreneurs, he pays the subscription fees without fail.

“I pay for five different virtual boxes, and I have never received a single piece of mail in any of them,” he said with a shrug.

“Where does our subscription money go? I don’t see any value for money, especially considering how communication and deliveries have evolved. We ask that parliament revisit the Companies Act and reconsider this requirement.”

His frustration reflects a growing unease among registered companies in Uganda over the country’s decades-old legal requirement that every business maintain a postal address, an obligation that has outlasted the very habits it was meant to serve.

According to the Companies Act, every registered business must have a postal address on file with the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB). That address is almost always a post office mailbox issued and managed by Posta Uganda, with fees ranging from Shs 20,000 for individuals and shops to Shs 90,000 for companies.

With Uganda now boasting more than 850,000 registered businesses, up from 800,000 in 2021, the requirement is no small matter. One company proprietor calculated that, at current rates, mandatory postal addresses could generate Shs 85 billion (about US$24 million) annually. Renewal processing fees alone bring in billions more. For many, the system feels outdated.

“To this day, I fail to understand the purpose of the Post Office Box for my company, but I continue renewing it every year,” said another entrepreneur.

“Communication has changed. Deliveries have changed. But the law has not.” Officials at Posta Uganda insist that the service remains relevant. A staff member explained that boxes are still in use, though not always in the way they once were.

“People continue to apply for Posta box numbers. Their usage varies; some use them to send and receive packages, while others maintain them merely for formality,” she said.

Posta argues that boxes now serve as more than just mail slots: users can receive digital notifications, track deliveries, and even arrange pickups through their accounts. But critics say these services are still poorly integrated into modern business operations.

BOUND BY LAW

URSB maintains that its hands are tied. Denis Nabende, the bureau’s acting principal communications officer, emphasised that the requirement is embedded in the law itself.

“URSB is guided by the Companies Act. Sections 111 and 112 require every company to provide a postal address at incorporation and to notify the Registrar of any changes thereafter. Postal addresses are issued and managed by Posta Uganda,” he said.

Changing that, Nabende explained, would require amending the Companies Act.

“The provision of a postal address is a legal requirement that URSB enforces. This is not discretionary.” Still, Nabende acknowledged the shifting realities of business in Uganda. “We are fully aware of the evolving environment and continue to work with stakeholders to enhance the ease of doing business. URSB remains committed to supporting legal and policy reforms.”

The debate over post office box fees is more than a bureaucratic squabble. It highlights the tension between Uganda’s old regulatory frameworks and its fast-changing digital economy.

While email, WhatsApp, and courier services dominate communication, companies still find themselves tethered to a law drafted for another era. For entrepreneurs, the annual fee is often seen less as a service than as a ritual payment to remain compliant.

For Posta Uganda, it is a lifeline of relevance and revenue in an age when the physical letter is nearly extinct. The question now is whether parliament will modernize the law, or whether Uganda’s businesses will continue to pay for empty boxes in the digital age.