The Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA) has issued a notice (the “Notice”) informing the public that it has extended the deadline for registration of companies/business names on the ORS by another ninety (90) days from 31 December 2019 up to 31 March 2020.

The Notice stipulates that in order to complete the registration process on the ORS, the applicant must have a National Identification Number issued by NIDA if the applicant is Tanzanian, or their passport numbers if the applicant is non-Tanzanian. Please note that this requirement will also apply to all business name owners, directors, shareholders and the company secretary for the purposes of making the company/business name ORS registered. Further, all directors must also have tax identification numbers (TIN), although we have not seen this apply to non-resident directors.

The consolidated form, which once uploaded and approved by BRELA allows the company/business name to become ORS registered, is generated after all the foregoing information and documents, as required, have been uploaded on the ORS and must include: the latest annual returns; the latest audited financial statements; and any other form reflecting changes in the company/business names.

Please note that it is the obligation of the applicant to make sure that the information provided and the documents uploaded are accurate and in line with the law. Once the information and documents including the consolidated from are uploaded, BRELA will examine the accuracy of the information uploaded, and if found satisfactory will issue an invoice for payment of the appropriate filing fees.

In the Notice, BRELA emphasises that any person who creates an account on the ORS and undertakes the registration process should either be the owner of the business, a shareholder, a director, the company secretary or an appointed representative of the company/business name owner and should be a person with knowledge of the legal requirements and who understands the ORS registration process.

Please note further, the Notice does not stipulate any penalty for failure to register on the ORS. However, in practice it impacts unregistered companies/business names as they will be unable to make statutory filings at the Companies Registry; such as filing their annual returns/annual maintenance fees or filing notifications with the Registrar of Companies with respect to any changes in the company/business name until they are ORS registered. This will further mean that Class A business licences which are to be procured from BRELA will not be possible until the company/business name is ORS registered.

If you have any questions regarding this legal update, please contact Amish Shah on aks@arslaw.co.tz, Shamzia Ratansi on snr@arslaw.co.tz or Toba Kessi  on tsk@arslaw.co.tz.