The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has commenced the process of striking off 513,338 business names, which have lapsed from the Business Names Register for defaulting in their renewal.
This was contained in a press release issued by the office on January 31, 2023, noting that the exercise was in accordance with Section 5A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962 (Act 151) on annual renewals.
“The Act reads: without prejudice to any other liability prescribed by this Act, 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,” it emphasized.
It, therefore, entreated all business name owners to renew their business names before the end of April 2023 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 Name Register.
“Business Name Owners can be in good standing by renewing their business name through the short code *222# and follow the prompt to make payment on the Ghana.Gov payment platform with their Mobile Money (Momo) wallet or walk into our offices across the country and make payment at our in-house Fidelity Bank,” it added.
ORC further cautioned the general public to avoid the use of intermediaries and agents when transacting business with them.
“We entreat our clients to ignore all calls or text messages from fraudsters purporting to be lawyers’ or staff of the office and demanding Mobile Money transfers to put their businesses in good standing. Kindly note that the office does not have nor operate a Mobile Money Account or have designated any lawyer for that purpose,” it stressed.
Patience Anaadem, ISD
