THE Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) has fully implemented the rollout of its electronic exchange of data system which underpins the Business Registration Form (BRF), otherwise known as the super form.

The new system is geared towards simplifying, speeding up and making less onerous the process of registering new companies and business names through the use of a single form.

The full electronic system was implemented on April 7, 2014.

The new system mainly involves interfacing with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), as well as the Tax Administration Jamaica’s (TAJ) Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN), General Consumption Tax (GCT) and Tax Compliance Certificate (TCC) systems. Additionally, registration with HEART Trust/NTA and the National Housing Trust (NHT) will be undertaken using the same methodology. This electronic registration process utilises ‘Web Service Technology’ to achieve the desired outcome.

More specifically, the number of forms to be completed has been reduced from 13 to one for a business name and to two for a company since January 2, 2014.

The electronic exchange of data between COJ’s system and the NIS and TAJ systems have effectively replaced the need to fill out numerous forms that were previously used for the registration and commencement of companies and business names, and have therefore eliminated the need for the customer to visit various government agencies and departments to complete the start-up process.

“As such, implementation of this super form required integration of diverse business systems for the ‘real time’ provision and validation of the requisite form particulars (such as TRN, TCC and GCT registration) from the respective information systems operated by these entities.” said Judith Ramlogan, CEO and Registrar of Companies, the Companies Office of Jamaica, in a statement issued last week. “The requirements from all stakeholder agencies were to either build a web service or to modify their systems to facilitate the electronic exchange of data. This was a major undertaking.”

The successful implementation of the Business Registration Form is expected to have a positive impact on Jamaica’s ranking on the World Bank’s Doing Business index.

Jamaica ranked 94th among 189 countries in the 2014 edition of the Doing Business Report.

“It is important to note that in the category of starting a business, which is where the COJ comes in, Jamaica’s DB 2014 ranked 23rd among the 189 countries,” said Ramlogan. “This was the country’s best showing in all the indicators included in the study. While that is commendable, the COJ, under the policy guidance of Anthony Hylton, the honourable Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, will not rest on its laurels, but will continue to push to improve on that ranking and Jamaica’s overall position on the index.”