By Fahad Al Ghadani — MUSCAT: April 2 - A total of 46 multi-commercial licenses have been terminated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for failing to remedy their legal status, according to the Ministry. This follows an investigation of 130 companies and establishments whose principal shareholders were asked to furnish updated documents of their legal status, Omanisation performance, and other regulatory criteria. While many of the firms under investigation responded positively to the ministry’s calls for details about their regulatory status, other were neglectful in making available the requested information. In the upshot, their licenses were invalidated, the ministry stated.
The action stems from a broader campaign by the government to crack down on the so-called ‘hidden trade’ phenomenon in the Sultanate, blamed on individuals who obtain multi-commercial licenses but fail to pay their legitimately owed taxes or illegally trade in expatriate work visas. Organisations that fail to regularise their legal status are liable to have their license cancelled altogether, the Ministry has warned.
Earlier, the ministry had given companies with expired commercial registrations a grace period of six months to update their status either via Sanad offices or through approved legal firms. A list of such companies had been posted on the ministry’s Invest Easy portal.
Pending the regularisation of their commercial status, such companies are also be unable to apply for any services via the portal.
Last year, in a bid to enable Omanis and foreign investors to get their new businesses registered with minimum bureaucracy or hassle, the Ministry waived the need for new firms to provide evidence of their capital status at the time or registration.
This gesture was designed to limit procedural delays and speed up the registration process.
Companies that fail to meet prescribed Omanisation targets are also being taken to task by the Ministry of Manpower.
Under ministerial decision 95/2017 issued recently, defaulting companies are being blackballed with the result that they will be denied clearances to bring in expatriate workers. By linking the commercial registrations of defaulting firms with the Civil Card numbers of their principal promoters, the Ministry says it can now pinpoint applicants with dodgy company credentials and thereby blackball them altogether. Partners in such firms will also be unable to circumvent these measures, it noted.
The announcement of the new Decision went viral on social media with many users voicing concern that the measures would adverse impact their businesses. Also weighing in on the online debate was the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) which urged the authorities, via a post on its Twitter handle, to direct their actions against the defaulting companies rather than individuals associated with the company in question.
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