Five hundred and eight thousand (508,000) public and private business entities are to be struck off the register of the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) by the end of June 2024.
This follows the failure of the companies to file their annual returns in order to be in good standing.
The companies have been served with notices, and reminders through various sensitisation programmes and multiple publications for the past two years.
Initially, the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) gave the companies up to the end of 2023 but decided to extend the period to allow for intensive public education by the ORC and adequate preparation on the part of the defaulting businesses to enable them to comply with the directive.
This was contained in a press release signed and issued in Accra on Monday, June 3, 2024, by the Registrar of Companies, Jemima Mamaa Oware.
Penalty
“Per Section 289 (5) of Companies Act 2019 (Act 992), a company that has its name struck off from the register cannot and is not permitted to conduct business under the Company name for twelve years.”
It further noted that business names (Sole Proprietorships) lose the right to the name as it falls into the public domain after the name is struck off the Register by reason of default in accordance with section 59(A) of the Registration of Business Names 1962 (Act 151).
