Online business permit application soon!

July 2, 2022 Metro BLISTT

The city government of Baguio is now in the final stages of setting up its electronic business permit application system according to the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO).
BPLO Supervising Administrative Officer Allan Abayao said they are now conducting a series of orientations to barangay officials while integrating existing systems of payments to the national portal ebpls.baguio.gov.ph.
Abayao said the online application system complies with the Ease of Doing Business law and the recent findings of the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) particularly on Electronic Business One-Stop-Shop (eBOSS).
Per ARTA findings dated May 20, 2022, the city government failed seven out of nine eBOSS functionalities in the Compliance Checklist.
These eBOSS functionalities needed to comply with include: online appointment system; online submission of applications using the Unified Application Form; online uploading of required documents; issuance of electronic versions of permits, licenses, or clearances which may be printed and has the same level of authority as the hardcopy; online payment using online payment facilities and other online payment gateways; gateway facilities linked with courier service providers which allow physical delivery of permits, licenses or clearance; and, customer support system to receive and address concerns regarding the eBOSS system that are technical.
The city government was able to comply with two eBOSS functionalities which are: the electronic issuance of the tax bill/order of payment; and, the online complaints and feedback mechanism related to business permitting without requiring a fee.
Based on the Ease of Doing Business law, local government units should act on business permit applications within three days from the time an application entered the online portal. However, approval or denial of a business permit application will be based on the completeness of the documents submitted.
Jessa Mardy P. Samidan