Tom Arnold

UAE, Dec 21 (The National): Businesses will soon be able to rent cheaper PO Box addresses under an overhaul of the national commercial postal service.

Emirates Post Group Holding (EPGH) announced yesterday it would reform its mailing system from January 1 to try to capture more demand for deliveries from small businesses.

"Companies can save money in the administration surrounding their business," said Ibrahim bin Karam, the chief commercial officer of EPGH, the state-owned postal service and logistics company.

"The financial crisis has increased companies' focus on cutting costs, so they don't want to recruit more staff to organise their post. This will help."

The reform will integrate services offered by EPGH subsidiary companies Emirates Post, the UAE's postal corporation, and Empost, the national courier service.

It will mean businesses can pay for a range of different postal services that combine the cost of renting a PO Box and courier delivery.

Under the changes, businesses with the highest volumes of mail can pay Dh12,000 (US$3,267) a year to rent a PO Box address and receive their mail six times a week. Previously they would have to pay an extra Dh750 for the address fee.

Smaller companies with lower mail volumes will pay Dh750 a year for PO Box rental and other mail services.

The move is part of an overall integration of services between the two companies that will involve Empost springing up in all 120 Emirates Post branches across the country by the end of March.

"We have tailored the services to companies depending on their size and their volume of mail," said Sultan al Midfa, the chief executive of Empost. "In the past we had only one service targeting the large corporates, and so we have improved the options available."

PO Box rental charges for households have not changed. Nationals and expatriates with resident visas can pay Dh200 a year to rent an individual PO Box.