TONGA

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES REGULATIONS 2014

Arrangement of Sections 

Regulation 

1 Short Title 
2 Interpretation 
3 Application for Business Name Registration 
4 Issue or refusal of Business Name Registration 
5 Withdrawal of Application 
6 Duration of registration 
7 Business Names Register 
8 Cancellation of Business Names Registration 
9 Appeal to Minister 
10 Time Cancellation comes into effect 
11 Amendment of Register and Registration 
12 Penalties 
13 Electronic Documents 
14 Authority to Use On-line Services 
15 Application for Business Name Re-registration 
SCHEDULE 1
PRESCRIBED FEES

SCHEDULE 2
BUSINESS ACTIVITIES 

FORMS
FORM 1 | APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAME 
FORM 2 | BUSIINESS NAME CERTIFICATE 
FORM 3 | RENEWAL OF BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION 
FORM 4 | AMENDMENT OF BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION 
FORM 5 | BUSINESS NAME AMENDMENT CERTIFICATE 
FORM 6 | NOTICE OF CESSATION OF BUSINESS 
FORM 7 | BUSINESS NAME CERTIFICATE OF CANCELLATION 
FORM 8 | APPLICATION FOR REINSTATEMENT OF BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION 
FORM 9 | BUSINESS NAME CERTIFICATE OF REINSTATEMENT 
FORM 10 | APPLICATION FOR RE-REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAME 
FORM 11 | BUSINESS NAME CERTIFICATE OF RE

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REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES REGULATIONS 2014

REGISTRATION OF BUSINESS NAMES ACT 2013

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 21 of the Registration of Business Names Act 2013, the Minister of Commerce, Tourism and Labour, with the consent of Cabinet, makes the following regulations –

1 Short Title 
This Regulation may be cited as the Registration of Business Names Regulations 2014. 

2 Interpretation 
In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires – 

"access information" means information assigned for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the registry (for example, passwords, access number, user Ids, and "PINs"); 

"Act" means the Registration of Business Names Act 2013; 

"Application" means an application for a business names registration made under section 6 of the Act and the "applicant" shall have a corresponding meaning; 

"authorized user" means a person who has log-on access to the registry; Regulation 3 Registration of Business Names Regulations 2014 

"online service" means a service provided by, or on behalf of, the Registrar that allows documents to be registered, delivered, sent or forwarded to the Registrar by electronic means including the Internet; and 

all terms defined in Section 2 of the Act shall have the same meaning as set forth in the Act when used in these Regulations. 

3 Application for Business Name Registration 
(1) An application for a business name registration shall be accompanied with the correct fee as prescribed in Schedule 1 and be – 

(a) made in the form prescribed in Form 1 and delivered to the Registrar in person or by post if submitted by paper; or 

(b) submitted to the Registry via an on-line service. 

(2) Where the application is rejected by the Registrar, the Registrar shall advise the applicant in a written communication of the reasons of rejection. 

(3) Upon receipt of an application the Registrar shall cause the applicant to be issued a receipt indicating the date of receipt. 

4 Issue or refusal of Business Name Registration 
(1) Where an application is received pursuant to section 6 of the Act, the Registrar shall within 3 working days either issue the applicant with a Certificate of Business Name Registration or advise the applicant in writing of the statutory grounds for refusing the application. 

(2) A Certificate of Business Name Registration shall be in the form prescribed in Form 2, as may be changed from time to time by the Registrar. 

(3) Where an application is rejected on the specific statutory grounds set out in the Act the application fee shall not be refundable. 

5 Withdrawal of Application 
(1) An application may be withdrawn by written application to the Registrar by the applicant. 

(2) The application fee shall not be refunded where the application is withdrawn. 

6 Duration of registration 
(1) A business name registration shall remain in force for one year but may be renewed each year by filing with the Registrar a statement of renewal in accordance with Section 15 of the Act.

(2) A statement of renewal shall be- 

(a) made in the form prescribed in Form 3, as may be changed from time to time by the Registrar; and 

(b) accompanied with the correct notice of business activity fee as prescribed in Schedule 1. 

(3) Upon receipt of a proper statement of renewal together with the proper fee, the Registrar shall register the statement and issue the applicant with a renewed Registration of Business Name Certificate. 

7 Business Names Register 
(1) The Registrar shall establish and maintain a Business Names Register in a format deemed acceptable to Register under Section 10 of the Act. 

(2) The Business Names Register shall contain, at a minimum, the following information – 

(a) business name; 

(b) registration number; 

(c) address of the principal place of business and other places of business conducted under the business name; 

(d) date of issue of the Certificate of Business Name Registration; 

(e) a history of all filings related to the business name; and 

(f) such statistical information the Registrar deems appropriate from time to time to collect, which information shall be held as confidential. 

(3) The Business Names Register shall be available for inspection or copying of entries by the public at least during the normal business hours upon payment of the fees prescribed in Schedule 1. 

(4) Where a Business Name registration is cancelled, the Business Names Register shall contain details of the cancellation. 

8 Cancellation of Business Names Registration 
Where the Registrar cancels a Business Names Registration the Registrar shall – 

(a) notify the Registrant in a written communication in compliance with Section 12 of the Act of the reason for the cancellation; and 

(b) the notice shall inform the Registrant of its right of appeal. 

9 Appeal to Minister 
(1) An appeal may be made against a decision to cancel a registration of business name regulation and shall be made in writing to the Minister within 14 working days from the date the Registrant is given notice of the cancellation. 

(2) The appeal shall set out the grounds of appeal. 

(3) The Minister shall, within 28 working days of the date of deciding the appeal, advise the Registrant and decide the appeal. 

(4) The Minister shall within 3 working days of the date of deciding the appeal, advise the Registrant in a written communication of the decision. 

10 Time Cancellation comes into effect 
Where the Registrar cancels a Business Name Registration, the cancellation shall not come into effect until, in the case of the holder of a business name registration who – 

(a) does not exercise a right of appeal within 14 working days as specified under the regulation 10(1); or 

(b) exercise a right of appeal within the time prescribed under regulation 10(3), from the date when the decision was made. 

11 Amendment of Register and Registration 
(1) Where the information contained on the Certificate of Business Name or the Business Name Register is no longer correct due to a change in circumstances, the Registration shall in accordance with Section 8 of the Act file an amendment to the business name registration, which shall be in the form prescribed in Form 4, as may be changed from time to time by the Registrar. 

(2) Where the Registrar receives an amendment under sub-regulation 11(1) that the Certificate of Business Name contains information that is no longer correct, the Registrar shall amend the Business Name Register within 2 working days of receiving the amendment. 

(3) Where the Registrar receives an amendment under sub-regulation 11(1) that the Certificate of Business Name Registration contains information that is no longer correct, the Registrar shall issue an amended Certificate Business Name Registration upon application and payment of the fee prescribed in Schedule 1. 

(4) Where a proposed amendment is received the Registrar shall within 3 working days either issue register the amendment or advise the applicant in writing of the statutory grounds for refusing the application. 

12 Penalties 
(1) Where the registrant fails to comply with the Act or these Regulations, the Registrar may impose a penalty as prescribed under the Act. 

(2) Where the Registrar imposes a penalty under sub-regulation 12(1), the Registrar shall advise the registrant in a written communication sent in accordance with Section 12 of the Act. 

13 Electronic Documents 
(1) Any person, including any legal entity, foreign legal entity or government agency, may submit documents to the Registrar via an online service in manner made available by the Registrar. 

(2) If a document is registered, delivered, sent, or forwarded to the Registrar using an online service – 

(a) an email address for communication with the person who registers, delivers, sends, or forwards the document to the Registrar must be provided with the document; and 

(b) an email address for communication with the business person must be provided with the document if different from the email address of the person who registers the document. 

14 Authority to Use On-line Services 
(1) Any person, including any legal entity, foreign legal entity or government agency, may become an authorised user for the purpose of submitting documents to the Registrar and to arrange for the payment of fees hereunder. 

(2) The Registrar may seek documentation or other evidence from any person that is or seeks to become an authorised user of the on-line services sufficient to authenticate the identity of such person or entity to the reasonable satisfaction of the Registrar. 

(3) There shall be no fee for becoming an authorised user of the on-line services. 

(4) Payments and payments methods for using the on-line service may be made pursuant to procedures announced from time to time by the Registrar. 

(5) In order for an authorised user to have access to make a filing within the registry, the authorised user shall enter the relevant access information. The Registrar is not required to verify that the authorised user is entitled to use the access information entered by the authorised user. 

(6) The Registrar may disclose access information only if - 

(a) the Registrar is reasonably satisfied that the person to whom the access information is to be disclosed is entitled to the information; and 

(b) the disclosure of the access information is necessary to facilitate the operation of the registry. 

(7) The format provided by the electronic registry shall be used for all documents submitted via the on-line service. 

15 Application for Business Name Re-registration 
(1) An application for re-registration of a business name shall be- 

(a) made in the form prescribed in Form 9 and delivered to the Registrar in person or by post if submitted by paper; or 

(b) submitted to the Registry via on-line service. 

(2) Where the Registrar has no record of the business to be re-registered, the Registrar shall advise the applicant in a written communication of the need to produce evidence of a prior business name registration sufficient for the Registrar to determine that the business name was previously registered. 

(3) Upon receipt of a proper application re-registration that Registrar shall cause the applicant to be issued a certificate of re-registration. 

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SCHEDULE 1

(SECTION 21(A) OF THE ACT)

PRESCRIBED FEES

Item	Activity
	Fee ($TOP)	Due date	
1. 	Application for Re-Registration of Business Name 	No charge	Not applicable 	
2. 	Application for Business Names Registration submitted via paper 	50	Upon submission of application 	
3 	Application for Business Names Registration submitted via on-line services 	25	Upon submission of application 	
4. 	Statement of renewal of business name registration submitted via paper 	20		
5 	Statement of renewal of business name registration submitted via on-line services 	10	Upon filing 	
6. 	Registration of changes via Amendment of Business Names registration and/or Certificate submitted via paper 	20	Upon filing 	
7 	Registration of change via Amendment of Business Names registration and/or Certificate submitted via on-line services 	10	Upon filing 	
8. 	Inspection of physical Business Names Register maintained at the Ministry 	10/per name	Prior to inspection 	
9. 	Paper copies from the physical Business Names Register maintained at the Ministry 	1 /per page	Upon providing copies 	
10. 	Online inspection of electronic database that contains the Business Names Register	No charge		
11. 	Certification by the Registrar of a Business Names Register record 	100	Upon providing certification 	
12. 	Late fee for filing required amendment to business names register 	20	Upon filing of amendment 	
13. 	Late fee for filing Statement of Renewal 	20	Upon filing of Notice 	
14 	Reinstatement fee after cancellation of business name registration 	50	Upon reinstatement 	
15. 	Notice of cessation of business by registrant 	No charge	Upon filing 	

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SCHEDULE 2

(Section 6(2)(e) of the Act)

BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

1 Services 

2 Professional Services 

3 Manufacturing/Processing 

4 Agriculture 

5 Fisheries 

6 Entertainment/catering 

7 Financial institution 

8 Telecommunication 

9 Information Technology 

10 Liquor Sales 

11 Therapeutic Goods Sale 

12 Flammable Goods Sale 

13 Transportation (non-taxi) 

14 Taxi Service 

15 Recycling Service 

16 Retail 

17 Distribution 

18 Tourism 

19 Construction 

20 Export 

21 Import 

22 Other (must specify on application)

Editors Note : Forms available under these Regulations can be accessed via the attached PDF copy.