CIPA Acknowledges Technical Hurdles on Online Business Registration System, Assures Clients of Ongoing Fixes

CIPA Acknowledges Technical Hurdles on Online Business Registration System, Assures Clients of Ongoing Fixes. The Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) has issued a public notice addressing a series of technical challenges currently affecting its Online Business Registration System (OBRS). The authority cited a high volume of applications, issues with the payment platform, and complications arising from the recent system upgrade as the primary causes of delays and disruptions.

According to the notice, the surge in applications has led to a backlog, particularly in processing post-incorporation submissions such as authority requests, company secretary appointments, and constitution filings. CIPA has assured clients that all efforts are being made to clear the backlog and that companies who submitted their annual returns on time will not be penalized due to the delay.

Additionally, the OBRS payment platform is experiencing technical problems, resulting in delayed transaction completions and instances of duplicated payments. CIPA has committed to refunding affected payments and is working with its partners and suppliers to resolve the issue promptly. Clients are advised that applications showing as “draft” but already paid for will be handled directly by CIPA, requiring no further action on their part.

The Authority also noted that some revised applications that were on clients’ dashboards prior to the system upgrade were not automatically migrated to the new platform. Clients in this situation are encouraged to resubmit their proof of payment to the provided email or WhatsApp contact.

CIPA extended its apologies for the inconvenience and reaffirmed its commitment to restoring full functionality to the OBRS as soon as possible.