THE COMMUNICATIONS BLOG

Postal and Courier Services;
A postal service is the conveyance of postal articles in consideration of a payment made by or on behalf of the person for or to whom it is conveyed.  This includes the acceptance, collection, clearance, sorting, transportation, delivery and other related ancillary functions of conveying an article.

“A postal article” means an addressed article weighing up to thirty (30) kilogrammes which is deposited to the postal service provider in the final form in which it shall be transported by the postal services provider. Examples include letters, postcard, printed material (newspaper, magazine book, pamphlet, document, etc.) and packages (sample packet, small packet, parcel, and packages)

Licenced Postal Operators

According Section 33(1) of the Uganda Communications Act of 2013, a person shall not convey, deliver or distribute postal articles without a licence issued under this Act. This requirement does apply to the following postal articles— articles for delivery to another person or persons to whom they are directed, without hire, reward or other profit or advantage for receiving, carrying or delivering them;articles solely concerning goods or other property sent by land, water or air, and delivered with the goods or property to which the letters relate without hire, reward, profit or advantage for receiving them, and the articles are open to inspection and have subscribed on them the words “consignee’s articles” or other words to that effect.

POSTAL AND COURIER LICENSE APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

1. Letter of application on a company letter head
2. Type of License Applied for (Indicate)
    Intercity (Town to Town)
    Domestic
    Regional
    International
3. Payment of the prescribed non-refundable application fee
    Application processing fee USD 190
4. Nature & structure of the applicant (a subsidiary, associated companies, joint ventures, etc)
5. Certified copy of the Certificate of Incorporation of the company in Uganda
6. Certified copy of the Certificate of registration (if not incorporated in Uganda)
7. Details of directors and shareholders of the company and their respective shareholding at the date of Application
8. ID/Passport copies of Directors and Shareholders
9. Certified copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association
10. Certified copy of VAT Certificate of Compliance
11. Business Plan to include;
     Location – Applicant’s physical address of Head Office.
     Operations – Physical location of Applicant’s operations hub
     Coverage – Number of outlets upon commencement of operations
     Roll out Plan – Service points and roll-out plan
     Products/services – Specification of services/products to be provided
     Logistics – Mode of service delivery and size of fleet
     Security – Measures to ensure safety of employees, customers & postal articles
     Staff capacity – Number of staff available for operations
     Customer Service Policy – Complaints handling procedures
12. Business objectives
     Economic, market & financial analysis (with proposed initial prices & cash flow statement),
     Evidence of capital (bank deposits, credit facilities and audited accounts)
13. Photocopy of company insurance policy
14. License Fees upon application is cleared
     Domestic (City to city) USD 400
     Domestic (National) Courier License fee USD 1,000
     Regional Courier License fee USD 2,500
     International Courier License fee USD 5,000