ASIC spokesperson Andre Khoury told SmartCompany since the register went live ASIC has been working through “initial start-up aspects” of the register.
“While there have been some delays, we are working hard to address customer concerns and improve the system,” he said.
“Over 100,000 customers have now registered a business name online, and we have received some very positive feedback from customers about their online experience.”
He says the nomination of an address for service for home-based businesses run by individuals does not have to be a residential address, but an address by which the business name holder can be contacted.
He says ASIC is examining the policy, which has been designed to support a key objective of the Business Names Registration Act: to ensure that those dealing with a business can identify the business name holder and how to contact that business name holder.
ASIC is examining whether it can allow a post office box address to be nominated as the address for service, for business owners concerned about their home address being publicly available.
Khoury says the new process to transfer a business name, which requires a 28-day waiting period, is mandated by the Business Names Registration Act.
“In the interim, a new business owner can use a ‘consent to transfer number’ provided to them by the previous owner to register the business name,” he says.
He says ASIC is working to enhance its systems to show the new business owner as a holder of the business name prior to the expiry of the 28-day cancellation period.
In the interim, it is exploring an option to provide a list on the ASIC website of new holders that have successfully applied to register a business name that is in the process of transfer and cancellation.
He says help line delays are a result of the volume of calls being well above expectations. He says ASIC has increased the number of phone lines into its call centre, upgraded its call centre infrastructure and trained 40 more staff to answer business name queries. It is also improving information on the website.
Khoury says “a small group of customers” have had difficulty registering a business name online, either due to a data problem relating to the transition of the business name details from an old state or territory record, or where a system outage has occurred during a transaction.
“ASIC apologises for any inconvenience suffered by these customers and we are continuing to work to resolve each of these registrations on a case-by-case basis,” he says.
