Head office, sub office and branch office: the types of post office
India Post runs 1,65,625 post offices of three kinds: 811 head offices, 24,546 sub offices and 1,40,268 branch offices. 95% of them deliver mail; the rest offer counter services only.
The three types
- Head office (HO): the main office of a postal division. It keeps the accounts for the sub and branch offices under it and usually offers every service.
- Sub office (SO): a full post office in a town or part of a city, reporting to a head office.
- Branch office (BO): a small office, mostly in villages, run under a sub office; often open part of the day and run by a Gramin Dak Sevak.
Delivery and non-delivery offices
A delivery office has postmen who bring mail to homes and businesses; a non-delivery office only sells stamps and takes bookings at the counter. In the directory 1,57,899 offices deliver and 7,726 don't. Every PIN page here shows which of its offices delivers.
Post offices by state
| State | Offices | Head | Sub | Branch | Deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 100 | 1 | 26 | 73 | 93% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 10,703 | 57 | 1,527 | 9,119 | 96% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,171 | 1 | 50 | 1,120 | 100% |
| Assam | 4,065 | 20 | 603 | 3,442 | 98% |
| Bihar | 9,366 | 33 | 1,056 | 8,277 | 97% |
| Chandigarh | 55 | 1 | 42 | 12 | 58% |
| Chhattisgarh | 4,771 | 10 | 350 | 4,411 | 98% |
| Delhi | 550 | 12 | 403 | 135 | 31% |
| Goa | 264 | 2 | 104 | 158 | 84% |
| Gujarat | 8,852 | 32 | 1,196 | 7,624 | 97% |
| Haryana | 2,717 | 16 | 502 | 2,199 | 91% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 2,811 | 18 | 455 | 2,338 | 99% |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 1,621 | 8 | 244 | 1,369 | 94% |
| Jharkhand | 4,601 | 13 | 460 | 4,128 | 97% |
| Karnataka | 9,670 | 58 | 1,653 | 7,959 | 95% |
| Kerala | 5,067 | 51 | 1,462 | 3,554 | 95% |
| Ladakh | 119 | 1 | 14 | 104 | 99% |
| Lakshadweep | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 90% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 10,291 | 43 | 991 | 9,257 | 97% |
| Maharashtra | 13,808 | 59 | 2,089 | 11,660 | 95% |
| Manipur | 787 | 1 | 57 | 729 | 99% |
| Meghalaya | 930 | 2 | 69 | 859 | 100% |
| Mizoram | 461 | 1 | 40 | 420 | 100% |
| Nagaland | 403 | 1 | 45 | 357 | 99% |
| Odisha | 8,919 | 35 | 1,188 | 7,696 | 97% |
| Puducherry | 95 | 1 | 31 | 63 | 81% |
| Punjab | 3,797 | 21 | 677 | 3,099 | 95% |
| Rajasthan | 11,045 | 47 | 1,273 | 9,725 | 97% |
| Sikkim | 212 | 1 | 22 | 189 | 98% |
| Tamil Nadu | 11,748 | 94 | 2,437 | 9,217 | 92% |
| Telangana | 6,300 | 37 | 821 | 5,442 | 96% |
| The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 52 | 0 | 10 | 42 | 98% |
| Tripura | 725 | 2 | 79 | 644 | 96% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 17,994 | 72 | 2,495 | 15,427 | 94% |
| Uttarakhand | 2,747 | 13 | 385 | 2,349 | 96% |
| West Bengal | 8,798 | 46 | 1,682 | 7,070 | 92% |
Questions
What is the difference between a head office and a sub office?
A head office is the main office of a postal division and keeps the accounts; a sub office is a full post office in a town or locality that reports to it.
What is a branch office (B.O.)?
A small post office, mostly in a village, working under a sub office.
What does 'delivery' mean for a post office?
Its postmen deliver mail to addresses; non-delivery offices offer counter services only.
More guides
- What is a PIN code? India's 6-digit postal code, explainedHow India's 6-digit PIN code works: the zone, circle, sorting district and delivery office in each digit, with 19,586 PIN codes counted.
- PIN code zones and postal circles of IndiaEvery PIN code zone and postal circle in India by the first two digits, with the states each covers and how many PIN codes and post offices it has.
- Sorting districts: every 3-digit PIN prefix in IndiaAll 405 three-digit PIN code prefixes (sorting districts) in India, with the districts and state each covers and its number of PIN codes.
- India PIN code statisticsIndia has 19,586 PIN codes and 1,65,625 post offices. Which states and districts have the most, and other numbers from India Post's list.
- How to find the PIN code of your location or addressFive ways to find a PIN code in India: from your location, by area name, from a bill, on India Post's site or at a post office, with tested accuracy.
- How to write an address in IndiaThe right way to write an Indian postal address: name, house, street, area, city, state and the 6-digit PIN code, with city and village examples.