1. Ahmedur Rahim
Registrar and Joint Secretary
The Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC)

2. Background of RJSC
 The Head Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock
Companies and Firms (RJSC) was first established in
Chittagong in 1947
 RJSC currently has three regional offices in Chittagong,
Khulna & Rajshahi, with the headquarter in Dhaka
 Currently there are around 150,000 entities registered
under RJSC.
 RJSC operates under the Ministry of Commerce

3. RJSC Provides Services Under the
Following ACTs
 Companies Act 1994
(evolved from the Companies Act 1913)
 Societies Registration Act 1860
 Partnership Act 1932
 Trade Organization Ordinance 1961

4. RJSC Services
 Main Online Services Provided by RJSC:
 Name clearance
 Registration
 Returns filling
 Issuance of certified copies
 Winding up
 Stores Records of Company ownership
 Registers mortgages and charges created for
loans and debts

5. Background of Reforms at RJSC
 RJSC was unable to cope with the increasing demand from the
business community
 In 1982 the number of registered companies was about 12,000; in
the 90’s the number reached 40,000
 The Government decided to upgrade the office and its system to
make it more modern and efficient to cater to the needs of its clients.
 Since 2005, the World Bank Group has been supporting RJSC to simplify
and to automate the business registration processes
RJSC is now a fully automated government agency, aligned with the
government priority of realizing the “Digital Bangladesh”

6. Milestones of Reform
07 Jan 09 In house LAN Practice
22 Feb 09 Online Name Clearance started
08 Mar 09 Online Registration started
02 Apr 09 Collection of fees through bank
27 May 09 Draft M&A posted on our web site
18 Oct 09 Online Return Filing started
24 Jan 10 Hassle of Stamp Collection Removed
27 Jan 10 4 Hour Registration Service started
27 Jan 10 Payment through online banking
05 Aug 10 Online application for certified copy
22 Aug 10 Sending Incorporation certificates by post
06 Sep 10 Auto-name Reservation started
28 Mar 11 Receiving of misc. application started
19 Apr 11 Easier format of Registration application

7. Results of Reform
Component Before Reform After Reform
Name Clearance 7 days 2 Hour
Registration 30 days 4 Hour
Return Filing Misfiling, hard to trace Easy to locate
Fee Payment Long queue from dawn Easy to pay at Bank
Stamp Collection Collection was difficult Easy Pay order
Visit to Office At least 6 visits for No visit requires
registration
Transparency No Transparency Online Monitoring
Accountability Poor Accountability Strong Accountability

8. Impact of Reform
Year wise 4 Hour (%) 1 Day (%) 3 Day (%) 5 Day (%) 5 Day + (%)
Registration
2009 201 (2.62) 966 (12.60) 1071 (13.97) 952 (7.20) 4476 (58.38)
2010 1826 (21.17) 2393 (27.74) 1474 (17.08) 1047 (12.13) 1886 (21.86)
2011 Upto Mar 861 (32.86) 800 (30.53) 352 (13.43) 240 (9.16) 367 (14.01)
60
50
40
2009
30 2010
2011 Upto Mar
20
10
0
4 Hour (%) 1 Day (%) 3 Day (%) 5 Day (%) 5 Day + (%)
Percentage of Registration by Time

9. Before Reform

10. After Reform

11. Challenges in Implementing the
Reforms at RJSC
 Reluctance in adopting new technology
 Negative attitude of both staff and users ..
 Technical glitches in Software –fine tuning required
 The automated system was perceived as a threat to
middleman.

12. Collaboration Plans with Other Agencies
 Company related information sharing/ cross
verification of company authentication with other
govt. agencies, such as:
 National ID authority
 Revenue Authority
 Export Import Authority
 Trade License
 Patent Design

13. A Long Way To Go…
 More customization is required in order to make the system
more user-friendly for the clients
 Disaster recovery data center required
 A help desk (particularly a women’s help center) needs to be set
up at the RJSC office
 Awareness needs to be created amongst the business
community regarding the newly automated system
 Demand for online payment needs to be created as it is not
currently popular
 The legal framework under which the system operates needs to
be more business friendly
 Introduction of Digital Signature is required

14. Visit us at
http://www.roc.gov.bd