Minister aims for business compliance

| 19/01/2017 | 3 Comments

(CNS Business): Starting this month, the Department of Commerce and Investment will be clamping down on rogue businesses who have not paid for their trade and business licences or who are not compliant with the other laws. Commerce Minister Wayne Panton said he wants to see a level playing field in the local business environment. Unpaid or non-compliant licences will be revoked from now on and businesses will need to pay up before they can resume operations.

“These provisions are designed to encourage compliance with the TBL, ensure that businesses are properly regulated, and foster fair competition on a level playing field,” Panton said. “This serves the interests of the economy and consumers alike.”

DCI officials warned that people operating a business using expired trade and business licences will be fined if they do not correct the situation within the prescribed timeframe. A licensee who fails to pay the renewal fee within 28 days after the expiry date of the licence could be liable for a surcharge of 25 percent of their renewal fee, which increases every month or part of a month that the renewal fee is not paid, until the licence is eventually revoked.

The department said it began notifying affected licensees of the potential fines and revocations in December and owners whose licences expired on or before 31 December have until Tuesday, 28 February, to renew, otherwise the unpaid licences will be revoked from Wednesday, 1 March. However, no penalties can be assessed because those licences were issued under the previous TBL.

But businesses with licences that expired on or after 1 January have 28 days to renew and under the new regime they will begin incurring penalties from Sunday, 29 January. The DCI said it will begin revoking these expired licenses as of 1 June.

To operate legally in the future, business owners will have to pay all of the outstanding fees, including fines, and the fees associated with applying for an entirely new licence grant rather than a renewal.

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Category: Local Business

Comments (3)

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  1. Frustrated says:

    The bureaucracy involved in getting a Trade and Business licence now makes it impossible for small businesses to do it. Minister Panton made his millions and cannot understand a business with turnover of $1000 per month!

    • Anonymous says:

      Your comments are not based on facts and certainly not motivated by good.

      2500 small businesses have been helped by the fee discount program to get properly licensed.

      There are over 1000 more licensed businesses today than 4 years ago.

      The time to obtain grants and renewals has been reduced by more than half. The application process is basically a one stop process now.

      All of that sounds like business being made VERY possible these days!

  2. Anonymous says:

    What a joke. These rogue companies know exactly what they are doing plus they will continue to skirt past everything because they are intertwined in with the higher ups who need there “cut rate services”. As soon as one closes they just go and form a new one. Problem is everyone wants the million dollar job done for $500,000.00 and the majority is grabbed by the “management team”. This slave labor mentality is wrecking this country.

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