Are you planning on starting a business in Nairobi County? If so, then you are required by County Law to apply for a Business Permit.
Failure to do so might cause interruption of business operations by the law enforcers.
The permit is required for the smooth operation of any business in Nairobi and other towns in Kenya.
Keep reading this article to find out all there is to know about this crucial document.
What’s the importance of a business permit?
It is both a legal and a mandatory requirement for any business operating within a city or town to have a single business permit.
In addition to proving the legality and credibility of your business, a business permit is also one way in which local authorities collect their taxes to improve their service delivery to the locals.
More so, if you are looking to apply for Government tender, borrowing a loan and many more, a single business permit is a crucial document that you just can’t simply do without.
What types of permits are there in Nairobi?
The county governments are responsible for the issuing of the single business permits which are now known as the unified business permits.
The licenses are:
1. Trading license
2. Advertising signage license
3. Health certificate
4. Fire clearance license
5. Food hygiene certificate
Note: For a single business permit of up to five employees, you will pay Ksh 15,000. The amount should be paid at the cash office in city hall.
All businesses in Nairobi ought to have the trading license and the fire clearance certificate.
Consumable business entities must have both the health certificate and the food hygiene license.
All businesses that have advertising signage of about 300mm by 60mm or less should have an advertising signage license.
The beauty of applying for these permits is that you do not have to go to the various offices to acquire all of these licenses.
They are all in the unified business permit. The unified business permit in Nairobi is, however, only valid only for a year from January to December after which you will be required to renew it.
Late renewal or registration could incur you penalty charges of up to 3.00% every month from the due date.
A business permit ensures that businesses comply with the established rules for that specific kind of business.
The Nairobi City County business permit rates are quite the same, but the price is different according to the location, size and the type of business.
Methods of acquiring business permits
There are two methods that you can use to acquire a business permit.
The first one is by visiting their offices, and the other one is by using the online portal.
A) Manual business permit renewal
The first method involves renewing a single business permit in Nairobi by visiting the City Hall Annex licensing offices.
Requirements for manual business permit renewal:
1. Copy of the business permit application form
2. Copy of the certificate of incorporation
3. Copy of the identification card
4. Copy of the company pin certificate
5. An approved business permit application form
6. A payment permit invoice
How to apply for a business permit manually
After ensuring that you have all these documents in place, here are the simple steps to follow and things to put into consideration:
1. Visit the ward office to obtain a BR-1 form which you will fill in with the details from the last permit.
2. After filling the form, you will then return it to the office and your business will be visited by inspection officers.
The inspection officers will visit you a day after you have returned the filled in BR-1 form.In their visit, they will check the type of business, the location and the number of employees you have.
The visit will determine the Nairobi City County single business permit rates you will have to be charged.
3. The Ward Licensing Officer shall recommend for issuance of the SBP by indicating the appropriate fee to be charged, stamping and signing the BR-1 form. The Ward Licensing Officer shall then refer the client to licensing main office at City Hall for further action.
4. At licensing main office, the application form is approved by the signatories before presenting to Data entry clerks for data capturing in the Single Business Permit database.
5. After capturing the data, an invoice/bill is generated.
6. Once the client has been issued with an invoice he shall make payment to Cash Office and obtain original receipts.
7. The client shall present the application form and the original receipt to the license Reception Desk officer who shall receive and record them in the register.
The Reception Desk Officer shall then take the application forms to the SBP Printing Office for Printing of SBP. The Officer in charge SBP printing office shall print record and take the SBP to the signatories for final signature.
8. Once signed by signatories, the Single Business Permit is received by Registry, where it is stamped again and taken to dispatch office for collection by the owner.
How to Renew your business permit
1. You will have to attach a copy of the previous permit you had.
2. The council officials will inform you the cost of a single business permit you want for your business.
The payment is done in the cash office.
3. The BR-1 form is then stamped and then you are referred to the main office.
4. At the main office, the form is approved, and the data in the form is filled in the unified business permit database.
5. An invoice bill is generated, and the permit is also signed.
6. You will then be advised to pick your permit at the dispatch office.
7. Now you can display it at the business premises as the law requires.
Contact information for the manual permit renewal
To place any queries or get clarification on their services, you can visit them at their offices.
The two offices that are associated with the single business permit are the City Hall Annex and the cash office, City Hall.
You can also contact them at: PO Box 30075 City hall, Nairobi. 00100
Telephone: +254 202 176 467
Email: info@Nairobi.go.ke
Website: www.go.ke
Cash counter hours:
The offices are open at the following times:
Monday to Friday - 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
You can also contact the person in charge: Moses Chege
Telephone: +254 722 972 481
Email: mcnjuia@gmail.com
B) Online permit renewal
This method involves renewing a single business permit in Nairobi online.
This online method is the fastest way of obtaining a unified business permit in Nairobi.
You will also have a clear picture of what Nairobi City County business permit rates are and what you will be charged even before applying for the permit.
It is convenient since you do not have to leave your business premises to renew your permit.
All you need is to have access to a computer and your mobile phone.
Requirements for online renewal of a business permit:
For everything to run smoothly when making your online application, you will need to have the following:
1. Money in your mobile/ in the bank for online banking
2. Your contact details
3. Some extra money for service charge
4. Your business ID which you can get from the previous business permit
5. Time: 10 minutes.
How to apply for a business permit online
Here is the procedure:
1. You will sign up on the Nairobi county self-service portal with your details such as your email, phone number, national ID and a pin or password.
Note that you will be using this pin/password in other places, that is why you need to use a secure but easy to remember pin or password.
2. After typing in your details, you will log in, and you will be directed to the homepage.
3. On the website, focus on the single business permit. Here you will click on renew.
4. After you click renew, you will be directed to the check status page. On this page, you will be able to check your company status and the total cost that will be needed for renewing the single business permit.
Here you will be shown the exact Nairobi City County business permit rates in that particular business year.
This page can even show you the amount that you have been penalized in the case of late payments. Here, you will also be able to see the previous business permits where you can print them out if need be.
4. Check thoroughly that the information is correct and that you have not been overcharged or penalised unjustly.
5. Now fill in the business ID which can be found on the previous business permits.
On the business permit, the ID is on the top right side just below the ‘BID.'
Enter the year you want to renew, the amount you are going to pay and then click 'check status'.
6. If you are a first timer, then you will notice that your wallet is empty and hence the message that your wallet does not have funds.
Just below the message is another tab to top up which you will have to click and continue to top up.
7. After you have clicked top up, you will be lead to the Nairobi county E-wallet, where you will be prompted to add your phone number and the amount you will top up (this is the amount that you were shown earlier).
You will also need to key in your pin or password. This is the same pin or password that you used to log in with.
8. Click 'submit', and you will be directed to the page where there are different payments methods. You can use either Mpesa or Jambopay.
9. If you decide to use Mpesa, you will click the Mpesa option, and you will be lead to other options that are straightforward. Write the pay bill number and the account number down.
The account number keeps changing, and if you stay for long before using it, you may send it to the wrong number.
Note: If you, however, send it to the wrong number, do not panic, the system is connected to Jambopay, if you contact them, they will make sure the money reflects on your e-wallet on the portal.
10. You will then receive a confirmation text from Nairobi county that your payment has been received.
11. On the portal, you will then be sent back to the page where it said that you did not have enough funds, but this time, the system will prompt you to ‘proceed to complete payment'.
If you click, you will be taken to the confirmation page where you will be shown the business name and the transaction ID which is the same as the one you received on the text.
12. When you are satisfied with the information given, you will then need to type your pin and submit the details.
The pin is the same one you have been using since you logged in. If everything went well, the system will notify you.
13. The system will now prompt you with two links, one will be to print your business permit and the other one will be about printing the receipt.
14. Here, you will print the business permit by clicking on the print permit tab and then download it.
Once you have printed it, it’s time to display it on your business premises as the law requires. You will also the print receipt as well.
Contact information for the online permit renewal.
The person in charge of this online renewal method is Anastacia Mulee who is a Jambopay agent.
If you wish to contact her you can use the details below:
Telephone: +254 709 920 000 or +254 788 920 000
Email: customercare@jambopay.com or info@Nairobi.go.ke
