Default in Annual Renewals: ORC begins deletion of 500,000 lapsed Business Names
The exercise is in line with Section 5 A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962, (Act 151)
The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) says it has begun processes to strike off 513, 338 lapsed Business Names from the Business Register for defaulting in their Annual Renewals.
In a statement on January 31, 2023, the ORC said the exercise is in line with Section 5 A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962, (Act 151). The Act directs that a “registration which is not renewed in accordance with this section shall LAPSE and the registrar may remove from the register the business name of the person whose registration has lapsed after the expiration of the period prescribed for the renewal.”
“What this means is that failure to renew a Business Name (Sole Proprietorship) or a Subsidiary Business Name for a period of 3 months after the year has ended leaves the name open to be used by anyone interested in the name.
Therefore, to avoid such Business Names falling into the public domain, and for anyone of interest to use it after it has been struck off the Business Names Register, all Business Names Owners are entreated to renew their Business Names before the end of April 2023,” the statement said.
The ORC has meanwhile said it would from June 1, 2023, fully implement and enforce penalties and sanctions on companies and entities that fail to comply with section 126(7) of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), on the filing of annual returns, financial statements, and annual renewals.
“This means that effective 1st June 2023, an administrative charge of GHc300.00 would be charged for each day the default continues against the Company and EVERY OFFICER of the Company until section 126 (7) is complied with,” it said in a statement on January 17, 2023.
