The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has initiated a major cleanup of its database, targeting more than 513,000 business names that have lapsed due to a failure to fulfill annual renewal requirements.
According to the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962, any business that fails to renew its registration within three months of the year ending is considered lapsed, allowing the Registrar to strike it from the record and making the name available for use by others.
Registrar of Companies Jemima Oware has emphasized that owners must settle their arrears to avoid losing their business identities to the public domain.
To facilitate compliance, the ORC has provided digital payment options through the Ghana.Gov platform, accessible via the shortcode *222#, and continues to accept in-person payments at authorized bank desks within its offices. Looking toward the end of 2025, the regulatory focus has shifted to broader corporate transparency, with a strict deadline of June 30, 2025, set for filing annual returns and a subsequent October 30, 2025, deadline for disclosing beneficial ownership information. Businesses that fail to meet these requirements now face significant administrative penalties, including daily fines and the risk of permanent deregistration.
As the ORC continues its nationwide inspection and database purging, entrepreneurs are urged to bypass intermediaries and engage directly with the office’s official digital channels to ensure their businesses remain in good standing.
The current administration, led by Acting Registrar Maame Samma Peprah, has reiterated that maintaining an updated registration is not only a legal necessity but a critical step in protecting a brand’s integrity and access to the formal economy.