By Omer Bilal ISLAMABAD, Mar. 16 (INP-WealthPK): The Board of Investment (BOI), in pursuance of ease of doing business agenda, has proposed amendment to the regulations for timely registration of factories. The amendment has prescribed a 10-day timeline for the issuance of no-objection certificate (NOC) along with necessary certification for registration of factories. Earlier, the process involved sending in all relevant documents and waiting for an uncertain/varying number of days before approval was eventually granted, as there was no prescribed timeframe for the registration of the factories in the Factories Act, 1934. This discountenance in the process of registration meant that despite submitting complete and verified documents, the process of approval would take more time than necessary, causing unwarranted delays in registration of factories with the concerned authorities. A BOI official said while talking to WealthPK that after consultations with relevant parties and stakeholders, it was decided to prescribe an exact number of days within which the factory registration process should be completed. He added that for new businesses, the registration process was frustrating as there was no timeframe. “It was a hurdle for investors specially along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route,” he said. In case of any clarifications, the applicant is informed on actions to be taken and start date will be after all the clarifications have been received. The process for the registration of factory is available on provincial labour departments’ websites except Balochistan. To start the process, an applicant just needs to choose the form “Registration and Licence under Factories Act, 1950,”  fill it, and provide all the required documents enlisted in all formats. For the installation of a factory in Balochistan province, the applicant faces difficulty in registration which may take four months or even more. After making essential modifications in the regulations, timely registration of factories will be ensured, which would not take more than 60 days. The timeline from the day of application submission for registration of a factory will be prescribed by the chief inspector of factories after scrutiny of documents. All the commercial, corporate and large manufacturing units’ establishments based in Islamabad are required to be registered with Labour Welfare Department, ICT, as per the provisions of West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969.