As far as I know, a business registration is a government approval for an individual or a group of people to run a specific business under a specific name; fees usually differ, depending on the type of business. It is also divided into main and secondary licensing.
A licence is issued after authorities verify that the business location conforms to safety standards and has all that is required to run it, including the banner.
Some officials who issue licences seem to have misunderstood legal requirements for a business to operate. According to the law on business registration, none requires a business location.
The licence neither specifies the office size for a business nor the number of branches one location may handle. Yet, authorities insist that a company must have a different location for each of its branches. Why?
Obliging companies and its branches to have separate offices on commercial streets only to get a licence means:
1. Weaker administrative and financial audit due to a company’s branch offices spread across the country.
2. Business owners will have to travel between branches, especially during peak hours which means a waste of time.
3. A shortage of commercial spaces due to a high demand but not enough supply.
4. High rentals for commercial spaces.
5. Additional expenses mean a high price of products or services the consumer has to bear.
According to the requirements of our time and age, the current procedures to obtain a licence are outdated because in many cases, the location has little importance compared to the company’s activities.
In Dubai, for example, any citizen holding a commercial licence is allowed to add one or more branches as long as the location exceeds 500 square foot (about 48 square metres) — a 6x8 metres office. The business law allows an individual to obtain licences for different companies at the same location; all that is required is the approval of all partners occupying the site.
This means each company is allowed to operate from a single room within the whole office space. Which means companies may get a licence for a 3x3 meters office in any commercial centre.
Let’s not forget that many businesses do not require office space, they would rather pay a fee to a business centre to pick up their mails and messages and the business owner will come once a while to receive them, or get them delivered to him in person or by email.
Now, obtaining an approval from Civil Defence for a commercial licence.
After the fire at Villaggio, there have been complaints about issuing a business licence to a nursery in the mall without verifying its safety measures.
As a result, authorities have asked every business to get approval from Civil Defence beforehand as if all businesses are the size of Villaggio which receives thousands of customers daily!
What I am talking about is an office over an area of a few square meters in a building that has a safety licence from Civil Defence. The only people who will enter the office are employees and not more than a customer or two at a time.
Insisting on a safety licence from Civil Defence means:
1. Dumping the responsibility of licensing officials on someone else.
2. Wasting financial and human resources of companies seeking business licence.
3. Creating additional workload on Civil Defence.
Enforcing the rule for separate offices of companies has created huge demand on limited commercial spaces, which has caused rentals to skyrocket, increasing companies’ expenses that reflect on prices for consumer.
