It’s goodbye from the CEO of the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ), Judith Ramlogan, as her contract was not renewed by the Government.

Last year she presided over 17,039 businesses and 4,878 companies being registered. With many people losing their jobs and seeing their salaries reduced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaicans decided to go out on their own with new ventures.

Ramlogan was the driving force, ensuring increased online registrations which jumped by 40 per cent last year.

With a reputation for adhering to the rules, she calls on business owners to see to it that their enterprises comply with all COJ regulations.

“Entrepreneurs often tend to stop at registration and neglect the post-registration obligations such as renewing the business certificate every three years or ensuring that their companies file annual returns with the COJ,” she has said.

“We are encouraging them to maintain proper records and file those obligations on time.”

There is an argument to be made that there will be a surge in business registrations when the COVID-19 recovery sets in.

Back in 2019, the Companies Office created the Electric Business Registration Form (eBRF).

The online platform, which replaces the COJ’s one-stop-shop paper-based super form, that was introduced in 2014, facilitates 24-hour business registrations.

“The innovative eBRF demonstrates to the world that Jamaica is open for business. It is our aim to deliver world-class service to our customers and there is no doubt that the introduction of the Electronic Business Registration Form will provide our customers with an efficient registration facility,” said Ramlogan.

In 2019, Jamaica was ranked sixth in the world for ease of starting a business on the World Bank Index, slipping one place from the prior year.

The vigilant Ramlogan has noted that businesses in the Corporate Area are reluctant to comply and that should be corrected.

“In the Corporate Area especially, there is a mentality that I’m not going to comply unless I’m forced to or unless companies want a loan at a bank. We don’t go a lot to the east because there’re not a lot of businesses there,” she said.

A STEADFAST CHAMPION OF GREATER TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS

She has remained a steadfast champion of greater technological solutions for registering businesses and providing more simplified processes.

The COJ has called for more attention to be paid to filing annual returns.

“For the last year, we have been focusing on efforts to ensure that the online facilities are more consistently available. In addition, more human resources were provided for IT support purposes. We are seeing more users and less complaints and we are pleased to be meeting the needs of entrepreneurs in this respect.

“We want them to succeed but they must also realise that formalisation is a legal status and compliance is a part of the reality.”