Companies Office Launches Upgraded Data Processing System

The Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ), today (Oct 23), launched its upgraded Document Processing Management Information System (DPMIS), which allows for the automated registration of all company documents.

DPMIS II, which takes effect on October 29, is being introduced some five years after the facility was originally implemented.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, at JAMPRO's Trafalgar Road offices in New Kingston, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the COJ and Registrar of Companies, Judith Ramlogan, noted that "DPMIS version II, less paper to paperless, will provide more efficient services to customers in the form of lower registration timelines, and new services, all intended to delight our customers".

She emphasised that the COJ is cognisant of the need to make the Jamaican business environment more user friendly and conducive to investment, and in light of this, DPMIS is a precursor to three initiatives that the COJ is working on. The first is that the COJ will collect the required fees, on behalf of the Stamp Office, payable on articles of incorporation, and affix the stamp duty paid medallion on such documents on behalf of the Stamp Commissioner. This means that customers will no longer have to travel to the Stamp Office prior to lodging their documents at the COJ.

The second initiative, she explained, is the business registration form (the super form), which will facilitate the collection of all information required by the regulatory agencies involved in business start-up at one portal (the COJ). "This will mean that persons who want to register businesses will no longer have to attend each agency physically to undertake the registration at each of them," she outlined.

The third initiative is the upgrading of the COJ website to facilitate online registration of new companies and new business names.

"The COJ is confident that once these initiatives are implemented they will contribute to a significant improvement in Jamaica's ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business Survey over the next year or two," she stated.

Meanwhile, COJ's Information Technology Manager, Michael Fowler, noted that a significant feature of the enhanced DPMIS is the tracking number, which will give customers the ability to track a filing process using a single unique number, instead of having to provide details. The number will appear on the customers' receipt, and will also allow on-line tracking of filings.

Also, the processing of business names will now be done using the DPMIS. This will include electronic fee-sheeting, system logging and all the processing benefits that are currently enjoyed by companies. This will allow the agency to process business names filings more efficiently and improve the level of integration between business names and companies, particularly in relation to the conduct of name searches.

Other enhancements include the execution and monitoring of the call-out and dispatching of documents (certificates, amendment notices, and other correspondence) through the DPMIS. This will allow customers to sign electronically for all documents, thus eliminating the use of paper.