Govt. to increase requirements for small businesses … with 20% of state contracts at stake

May 26, 2019 News

With more benefits about to be added to law for small businesses, there will be more requirements for a business to meet approved small business status.

Minister of Business, Haimraj Rajkumar

Minister of Business, Haimraj Rajkumar, recently tabled the Small Business (Amendment) Bill 2019, Bill No. 9 of 2019, in the National Assembly to be voted on soon. The act, when approved, may also be cited as the Small Business (Amendment) Act 2019, according to its first clause.
It first amends section 2 of the Principal Act in subsection (1)(f), by substituting “all” in the place of “at least two”, thereby requiring that a small business employs not more than twenty-five persons; has a gross annual revenue of not more than sixty million dollars; and total business assets of not more than twenty million dollars to be classified as a small business under the act. Currently, a small business only needs to meet two of those requirements. The amendment will require all three.
The amendment goes on to substitution the words “documentation” in the place of “a declaration”, in section 2(2)(a) of the Principal Act. This would ensure that documented verification of the three criteria listed above is had, for a business to be declared an approved small business.
Another clause of the amendment to section 2 of the act makes a substitution to subsection (3) of the Principal Act, which allows the Small business Council to grant “approved small business” status to businesses based on recommendations from the Small Business Bureau.
Lastly, the Bill makes an amendment to Section 11(1) of the Principal Act, which seeks to grant at least 20 percent of state works to small business recognised under this act. The Principal act provides for at least 20 percent of Government procurement of goods and services to be obtained from small businesses, but that currently does not extend to governmental works.