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The second stage of South Asia’s most sophisticated, national scale electronic company registration will commence when Sri Lanka’s Company Registrar activates it on 21 January.
“I commend the Registrar of Companies for completing the second stage of hi-tech registration system on time just as we promised in April 2018. My effort is to support PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s vision of moving higher in the Doing Business Index ranking,” said Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons & Cooperative Development Minister Rishad Bathiudeen on 17 January at his Ministry in Colombo 3. Minister Bathiudeen, joined by Ministry Secretary KDN Ranjith Ashoka, Additional Secretary M Thajudeen, and Registrar General of Companies D.N.R. Siriwardena, was addressing a progress review of many institutions under his Ministry on 17 January.
“Today Sri Lanka’s corporate and private sectors are directly supported by our Ministry through the Department of Registrar of Companies. The first stage of the new system, called E-ROC, to register companies and associations online is successful. As a result now anyone can register a Sri Lankan Company within one hour through this online process, compared to four days of registration under the manual system we practiced earlier,” said Minister Bathiudeen and added: “From next Monday 21 January, when the second stage of E-ROC takes off, immediate registration of Secretaries, Auditors, Public Contracts, Societies and issuing of certified copies too are automated. This marks a successful halfway-milestone completion of this project. I am confident that we can launch the finalised full E-ROC system at end-March this year. In the meanwhile, I direct the officials to install a public Complaints Box at the RoC and promptly attend to all the complaints received.”
Registrar General of Companies D.N.R. Siriwardena and his officials informed Minister Bathiudeen that the full cost of E-ROC is only $ 260,000 (Rs. 48 million), and that too has been entirely paid by RoC’s earnings without any funds from the Treasury. Sri Lanka’s E-ROC system is also South Asia’s first national level E-ROC, integrating registrations from all corners of the island. Even Company registrations from abroad are enabled. Provided all required documentations are properly submitted, registrations could be completed within one hour. In Phase I of Stage I, name approval and incorporation of companies were achieved. When E-ROC Phase II completes by March, E-ROC will integrate the most updated Company Database in Sri Lanka with the latest details of directors and changes in ownership, and many other corporate details of the firms listed in it. Certificates of Registration shall not be issued online due to security issues, and they have to be personally collected by applicants.
As for Ease of Doing Business, Sri Lanka rose 11 places in the World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business Index last October. It was ranked 100 among 190 economies and rose up from Rank 111 in 2018.
