7K requests for license to ‘receive & deliver clothes’

This news has been read 25255 times!

70% of total commercial licenses in April: MoCI

KUWAIT CITY, May 16: According to informed sources, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, represented by the sector for corporate affairs and commercial licenses, witnessed a strange phenomenon in the past weeks, specifically during the month of April. The ministry received a torrent of requests, exceeding 7,000 in number, for the issuance of a particular commercial license, which is for the activity of “receiving and delivering clothes”, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The sources explained that the ministry issues about 10,000 to 12,000 commercial licenses per month. The license for the activity of “receiving and delivery of clothes” accounted for no less than 70 percent of the total commercial licenses in April. There may be a rumor that the commercial license, which has become a “phenomenon”, will become parallel to the license to deliver consumer orders, which was suspended for many years at the request of the Ministry of Interior.

The license for “receiving and delivery of clothes” and the approval of its issuance in the automated system for the companies and commercial licenses sector of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry does not require the approval of the Ministry of Interior. This means that this activity is not subject to the registration of a large number of cars, as is the case with the delivery activity.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is registering and completing the process of establishing the activities of companies according to the “international code”. There may be confusion among many applicants regarding the request for a license for “receiving and delivering clothes”. They probably believe that it includes the activity of order delivery service in its broadest form, as the license is in fact concerned with receiving and delivering clothes from the laundry.

This activity is applicable worldwide, as clothes can be received from a clothes cleaning company and delivered to the customer by a number of means, including on foot, especially in European countries and places with temperate climates.

The private commercial activity of delivering consumer orders is completely different from the activity of receiving and delivering clothes, as the issuance of licenses for the delivery of orders – before its suspension – required the approval of the Ministry of Interior, given that the delivery activity is based on means of transportation such as cars and motorcycles, and the ministry is concerned with regulating traffic. Therefore, all new commercial licenses related to land transportation – so to speak – are referred to the Ministry of Interior for the approval of the practice or not in terms of the activity of the new licenses before the suspension process.

Response
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has addressed the Ministry of Interior about its desire to include this type of commercial license under its umbrella. It is currently awaiting a response, but is expecting that the Ministry of Interior will refuse to include the approvals for the issuance of this type of commercial license under its umbrella, on the grounds that it is not a land transport activity. Therefore, it does not contain large means of transportation, and it will not be licensed to do so in the future.

A large number of investors who submitted applications for obtaining a license to receive and deliver clothes are young Kuwaiti citizens registered under chapter five in the Public Institution for Social Security, followed by pensioners. A significant percentage are women. The meetings that included representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Interior months ago dealt with a study to reopen the door for licensing to deliver consumer orders. There was a large increase in the number of expatriates in the country, especially workers who came to the country in bulk through work visas issued by companies trading in residency.

These workers were brought to the country and then left to face their fate by working in places that are not of their sponsors, thus violating the labor law. The file of licenses for the delivery of consumer orders is linked to the issue of traffic jams that the country suffers from. Furthermore, the sources said one of the advantages of improving the business environment in Kuwait is that the automated system for the companies and commercial licenses sector at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry allows applying for a commercial license application initially without any fees, provided that the procedures for obtaining the commercial license are completed within a year from the date of submission.

It can be related to obtaining the approvals of the concerned authorities in terms of the licensing activity, or obtaining an unused automated number from others, and it is registered with the Public Authority for Civil Information, which requires renting an office as the company’s headquarters. Also, the advantage of incorporation without paying large amounts is one of the reasons for the great demand to establish a company for receiving and delivering clothes. The risk in the process of establishing the company does not exceed a mere request, and therefore the founder retains his right to establish a company according to his expectations that may have a future, and before the issuance of new licenses is suspended as it happened with the license to deliver consumer orders.

This news has been read 25255 times!