Home - Renew by January 17 or lose your business name – ORC warns

Business owners with expired business name registrations risk losing their registered names and facing sanctions if they continue operating under them after cancellation, the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has warned.

The ORC has set January 17, 2027, as the deadline for affected business owners to renew their registrations and pay outstanding renewal fees.

In a public notice, the Registrar said business names must be renewed annually upon the expiration of their registrations. However, several business owners have failed to meet this requirement.

According to the notice, registrations that remain unrenewed after the deadline will be considered lapsed, and the affected names will be removed from the official register.

The ORC warned that cancelled business names would no longer enjoy legal recognition. Anyone who continues trading under such a name would be in breach of the law and could face the applicable sanctions.

To avoid removal, owners whose registrations have expired or are due for renewal are advised to visit any ORC office or use the USSD short code *222# to complete the process.

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They are also required to pay any outstanding renewal fees and update their business details, including changes to their registered addresses and the nature of their business activities.

Business owners who no longer wish to operate under a registered name can write to the Registrar to request its removal from the register.

The warning forms part of a wider effort to update Ghana’s business records. In a separate exercise involving companies, the ORC announced plans to strike off 453 companies, while another 323 had already been removed from the register and dissolved under the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).

Business owners seeking further clarification can contact the ORC on 0308249841 or through WhatsApp and Telegram on 0599525774.

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