Company owners in mad rush to beat deadline on new registration revisions
Hundreds of people made a last minute dash to the Department of the Registration of Companies (DRC) and the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) to beat the deadline of new revisions introduced in the 2016 budget with effect from January 1. The 2016 budget has increased the company registration renewal fees and introduced an annual surcharge of Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 250,000 fee when cancelling the registration of companies. The budget has also increased the passport fee.
All those proposals have come into effect from January1 and a large number of people were seen in long queues at the two departments, eyewitnesses said.Registrar General of Companies D.N.R. Siriwardena told the Business Time that there was a sudden increase in the number of persons visiting the department for renewal of company registrations and cancellations as a result of the 2016 budget proposal and he had opened four additional counters during the past few days to cater to the needs of clients.
He disclosed that around 70,000 private companies have been registered with the department and a large number of firms were not submitting annual reports and other relevant details regularly.However an affidavit should be submitted by the owner of the company stating the company’s current status to prove that it was not functioning at present, he said adding that after perusing necessary documents, the department will have to take a decision to cancel the registration.
This process will take some time as the assessment will be made on a case-by-case basis, he pointed out adding that clients should not be hasty as the relevant circular and guidelines have not been received by the department as yet.A large number of company owners have converged on the department to make payments for the renewal of registration of their firms before the introduction of the new increased fees, he disclosed.