COJ’s business mobile goes the distance for compliance

Despite an overall decline by 10 per cent in documents submitted to the Companies Office of Jamaica’s (COJ) business mobile for the financial year 2020-21, the agency is encouraged that persons are making an effort to remain compliant given the negative economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The business mobile, which ventures into rural parishes to facilitate customers with filing documents, saw 1,630 companies filing documents, 321 new business name registration and 407 business name renewals during the financial year. Several locations had to be cancelled as a result of the Government’s restriction on public gatherings, directly impacting the overall intake.

The agency is also proudly reporting that its January 2021 mobile visits to St Elizabeth, Clarendon and Manchester were the most successful to date.

According to Judith Ramlogan, CEO at the COJ, “Our most successful mobiles are those to southern and western parishes, but we were quite surprised by the turnout in the southern parishes. The reality is that our field officers went out, pushed to engage persons despite the obvious threats and it paid off. It was also good to know that persons wanted to remain compliant, and, therefore, we can conclude that persons may be taking compliance more seriously given the opportunities that exist.”

Cancelled visits because of COVID

At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the agency was forced to cancel its mobile visits to Westmoreland, Hanover and St James, parishes considered high-demand areas. It was also forced to abandon plans to service the eastern parishes of St Thomas, St Mary and Portland, along with Trelawny in the first and second quarters of the financial year.

With the COVID-19 positivity rate trending down, Ramlogan is hoping that the agency’s upcoming mobile visits will hit the target.

“Our mobile to eastern parishes in May surpassed both the document submission and financial targets and we are pleased. The turnout was, indeed, better than previous years. We are also looking forward to July, September and November mobiles as those locations have consistently requested that we visit to facilitate filings,” Ramlogan noted.

The COJ Mobile is expected to make stops in the following areas:

• July: St Ann – Brown’s Town, St Ann’s Bay and Ocho Rios

• September: St James and Trelawny

• November: St Catherine - Spanish Town, Linstead and Old Harbour.