Registrar-General ready to crack the whip
The Registrar-General’s Department has directed businesses which have not yet updated their records in the new electronic database to comply with the provisions.
A statement signed by Mrs Jemima M. Oware, the Acting Registrar-General and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said on April 15 and April 20, 2015 as well as February 29, 2016, the Department published a statement on its website and the national dailies urging companies to update their records and file their annual reports by June 30, 2016.
It noted that following that directive, some companies had complied whilst a whole lot more are yet to update their records within the new electronic e-register.
“As the Registrar of Companies in Ghana, we wish to reiterate that the filing of Annual Returns is mandatory as stated in Section 122 (1 and 2) of the Companies Act, 1963, (Act179), “that a Company shall file its Annual Returns 18 months after Incorporation and once, at least in every year thereafter.
“Under Section 6 (1) of the Incorporated Private Partnership Act, 1962, once in every year Partners shall deliver to the Registrar for registration a statement in the prescribed form renewing the registration.
“We wish to draw the attention of Companies and Partnerships to the penalty regime in the Companies/Partnerships Acts that the Registrar General will now have to enforce,” it said.
The statement said per Section 122(7) where a company defaulted in complying with this section, the company was liable to a fine not exceeding 25 penalty units for everyday during which the default continues, the same applies to partnerships whilst that of business names would lapse completely.
It said under section 26 of the Interpretation Act (Act 729) 2009, the imposition of a fine as a penalty for the contravention of a provision in the enactment shall be expressed in terms of a number of penalty units.
The statement said one penalty unit is defined as equivalent to the amount of cedis specified in the Second Schedule to this Act as being equal to GH12.00.
“Businesses/Companies and Partnerships must note that the import of this provision is that they would be paying a penalty in addition to the fees they would be required to pay mandatory for the filing of their Annual Returns yearly.
“By the foregoing definition therefore 25 penalty units would amount to Gh300.00 for each day that the default continues with effect from Monday August 1, 2016,’’ it said.
The statement said this regime of penalty payment would continue until December 31, 2016 and thereafter when the Department would start the process of striking out the names of companies that had failed to comply with the directive.
“We are by this publication commencing the serialisation of the names of Business/Companies and Partnerships which have not yet updated their records in the new electronic database to comply with the provisions as stated above.
“Businesses must note that the update of records is free apart from the fees to be paid for renewing the business or filing of Annual Returns for the number of years in default,” it said.
The statement said all payments should be made at the Department’s on-site Bank, Fidelity Bank Limited and not to any individual.
It said further information and enquiries could be channeled through telephone numbers: 0302-664691/0244619545 and 0244287264.
Source: GNA