Business Facilitation: New Regulations to streamline administrative processes

Budget 2016-17 will bring major changes in ways of doing business. New regulations will be enacted in order to simplify administrative processes. Below are the 15 changes that will improve business facilitation.

(1) Facilitation of investment projects 

Investors who wish to operate a private hospital, nursing home or residential care home shall register with the Board of Investment and benefit from the business facilitation services provided by the latter. The Investment Promotion Act will be amended accordingly. 

(2) BLP on-line system 

The BLP online system is being upgraded to enable applications for Building and Land Use Permits (BLP) to be submitted and processed electronically and determined within the statutory time frame of 14 working days. The construction plans and drawings supporting an application will also be submitted by electronic or other technological means and will be mandatory for non-residential constructions. 

(3) Compliance Certificate by Local Authorities 

The Building Control Act will be amended for the compliance certificate to be issued within five working days from the date of application. 

(4) Outline Planning Permission or Building and Land Use Permit 

The Local Government Act will be amended to streamline the process for issuing an Outline Planning Permission or a Building and Land Use Permit. Approval of the Minister of Local Government will only be required for development of land or construction of a building for use as a place of public worship. 

(5) Occupation Permit by Investors and Self-Employed and a Residence Permit by Retired non-citizens 

The current process for dealing with applications for Occupation Permits (OP) will be reviewed through the OP online system without prior registration of business or transfer of funds and be issued with an approval in principle subject to complying with the set criteria. Validation of the proposed business activity and required checks on the person will be carried out upstream. Successful applicants will receive an approval in principle following which they will travel to Mauritius to complete the compulsory procedures before being issued with the Occupation Permit or Residence Permit. 

(6) Occupation Permit application form 

The application form for Occupation Permit which is presently in English will be made bilingual (English and French) similar to the application form for a passport. A single form will be filled in by the applicant for an Occupation Permit for himself and a Residence Permit for his dependents. 

(7) Opening up of the economy 

In the context of the opening up of the economy to foreign investors, the scope of the criteria for registration as an investor is being extended as follows: 

(i) Currently, an investor must have an annual turnover of at least Rs 4 million in each of the three years for which an occupation permit is granted to him. Given that this threshold may not be attained in the initial year of operation, the criterion is reviewed such that the turnover for the first year should be at least Rs 2 million and cumulative turnover for the subsequent two years is at least Rs 10 million. 

(ii) Investors who were already operating in Mauritius but not registered with the Board of Investment for a period of at least three years preceding an application for Occupation Permit will be able to do so provided the net asset value of their business is at least USD 100,000 and the cumulative turnover for the last three years was at least Rs 12 million with a minimum of at least Rs 2 million in any one year. 

(iii) Similarly, applicants under the investor category who have inherited a business, in case of death or incapacity of the previous investor, can register with the Board of Investment provided the net asset value of the business is at least USD 100,000 and the cumulative turnover for the last three years was at least Rs 12 million with a minimum of at least Rs 2 million in any one year. 

(8) Acquisition of property for business purposes 

Companies in which non-citizens in total do not hold more than 25 percent of the shareholding will not be required to seek the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office when there is a transfer of property. 

(9) Sharing of information 

In order to enhance the exchange of information, the business registration card will also be issued in its electronic form. As such, public as well as private sector agencies shall no longer request a person to produce a copy of a business registration card. They will have online access to relevant information to ascertain the particulars of registration of businesses. Furthermore, in order to fasten the processing of applications, public sector agencies shall upon mutual agreement share information relating to businesses among themselves. The Business Registration Act will be amended accordingly. 

(10) Review of the Licensing system in the Tourism Sector 

The licensing system for the activities carried out in the tourism sector is being rationalised and consolidated for further facilitation. 

(i) The validity of the Pleasure Craft Licence is being extended from one to three years. 

(ii) The 3 categories of licences, namely, Pleasure Craft Licence, Boathouse Licence, and Surfing Licence will also allow an operator to conduct other sea related activities, as may be approved by the Tourism Authority. 

(iii) One single licence, consolidating activities of similar nature will be introduced thereby eliminating the requirement to apply for several separate licences to operate one single activity. The list will be determined by the Tourism Authority. 

(iv) A selection of tourist establishments will be required to apply for only one licence at the Tourism Authority to operate and sell liquor and other alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. As such, the requirement to apply for a separate licence at the MRA to sell liquor and other alcoholic beverages, by a number of tourist establishments, is therefore eliminated. 

(v) The list of licence issued by the Tourism Authority is being reviewed to remove a few activities which no more require an authorisation from the Tourism Authority. 

The Tourism Authority Act will be amended accordingly. 

(11) Building Control Act The Building Control Act will be amended to: 

(i) emphasise that plans and drawings supporting an application for permit with respect to a proposed construction work be submitted electronically, by an architect or engineer, to the relevant local authority; 

(ii) provide for a risk-based inspection system; and 

(iii) reduce the time frame for the issue of a compliance certificate from 10 to five working days from the date of application. 

(12) Sugar Industry Efficiency Act 

Sugar Industry Efficiency Act will be amended to allow for electronic submission of applications for land conversion. 

Under the Smart City Scheme, land conversion tax is payable on conversion of agricultural land for residential development. If a land owner wishes to use land conversion rights obtained under the Sugar Industry Efficiency Act in a smart city project, that part of his entitlement will be reduced by a factor. The same factor will apply if such land conversion rights have already been exercised but the land owner obtains authorization to relocate the rights to a site located within a smart city area. 

(13) Morcellement Act 

The Morcellement Act will be amended for morcellement permit to be issued within five working days from the date of approval by the Morcellement Board. 

(14) Local Government Act 

The Local Government Act will be amended to- 

(i) simplify the application process for an Outline Planning Permission and a building and land use permit by: 

(a)enabling the application to be made electronically or other technological means as the Chief Executive may determine; and 

(b)requiring the applicant to submit only one original copy of an application to the Permits and Business Monitoring Committee; 

(ii) introduce a new provision to require the Secretary of the Permits and Business Monitoring Committee to assess the completeness of an application for an Outline Planning Permission and a building and land use permit, in accordance with the guidelines. Time frames to assess the completeness of an application by the Secretary, to notify the applicant in case of incomplete applications and referring the complete applications to the members of the Permits and Business Monitoring Committee have also been set; 

(iii) remove the requirement for obtaining the stand of the Executive Committee in the process of determining an application for an Outline Planning Permission and a Building and Land Use Permit; 

(iv) require the approval of the Minister of Local Government only for development of land or construction of a building for use as a place of public worship; 

(v) review the provisions pertaining to the valuation lists as provided for under the repealed Local Government Act 1989 with a view to enabling local authorities to levy general rates until the cadastral value of a property is determine in accordance with an appropriate enactment; and 

(vi) allow municipal councils to sell the municipal land to the sitting tenants who have their housing units thereon. 

(15) Info Highway 

Data sharing will be promoted across Government through the operation of an Info Highway which will facilitate exchange of data among Ministries and Departments. This will reduce duplication of data to a minimum, with obvious cost and efficiency gains for all stakeholders. 

Currently two Government Departments, namely the Civil Status Division of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions are exchanging data over the Info Highway, resulting in a much more efficient processing of pensions. Similarly, other Government departments will exchange data in a more efficient manner thereby reducing the administrative burden on citizens and businesses. 

The full potential of the Info Highway will be realised when data is captured only once so that citizens and businesses are not required to submit the same information each and every time they interact with a public agency. Public agencies will also be able to leverage on the Info Highway to operate e-services, a more convenient mode of interacting with Government than the traditional counter services. 

For the financial year 2016/17, some 10 systems will be integrated through the Info Highway.