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Business name registration in five days as 108-year-old system is overhauled
A pilot project to replace Sri Lanka's century-old business name registration process with a simplified, unified system, under which registration could be completed in as little as five days, was launched in Anuradhapura on 10 November under the patronage of Deputy Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe.
The Simplified and Unified Business Name Registration (BNR) pilot is being implemented by the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development with the Chrysalis institute and the provincial councils. It aims to simplify the registration of sole proprietorships and partnerships and to introduce a uniform procedure across the island.
The system in place since 1918 required documents proving land ownership and approvals from several institutions. Under the reform, business name registration will be separated from the process of obtaining other legal licences. Registration will be based on basic identity and residence details, and is expected to be completed within a short period such as five days.
In the first phase, a three-month pilot will be conducted in 20 selected Divisional Secretariat divisions in the Central, Northern, North Central and North Western Provinces.
Once the pilot has been evaluated, the system will be extended island-wide, with plans to make the service more efficient in future through a digital platform.
The main objective of the reform is to reduce administrative barriers for those planning to start a business and for small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, enabling them to enter the formal economy more easily.
The launch was attended by Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Anoja Herath, Directors of Entrepreneurship Development Susanthi Jayasinghe and Evangeline Sinclair, Chrysalis head Ashika Gunasena and Senior Advisor Padmasiri Gunawardhana. Secretaries representing the relevant provincial and divisional administrative bodies, officials and subject officers involved in the project also participated.
