The Head of the Business Environment Improvement Center: If Devices Don’t Respond, the National Gateway Issues Licenses

The head of the Business Environment Improvement Center has reported on the backlog and negligence of 124,000 requests in the National Licensing Gateway, stating that if the authorities do not respond to the requests, the National Licensing Gateway will issue licenses for these requests. This is despite the fact that the issuance of licenses has faced significant objections from guilds and unions, accounting for 47% of the requests.

As reported by IDEA, Amir Sayyah, the head of the Business Environment Improvement Center at the Ministry of Economy, has announced the backlog of 124,000 unprocessed requests in the National Licensing Gateway on his Twitter account. In fact, 11% of all requests in the National Licensing Gateway have been left unattended by unresponsive executive bodies.

Sayyah has also cited Article 1 of the Law on Facilitating the Issuance of Licenses, stating that if any of the licensing authorities fail to respond to the applicant within the specified time frame, the National Licensing Gateway must automatically issue the license. All responsibilities for this action lie with the issuing authority.

In fact, the Business Environment Regulations and Improvement Committee has imposed new obligations on organizations such as the Psychological Association and the Bar Association to register licenses in the National Licensing Gateway, and on the other hand, the Administrative Justice Court has ruled against these obligations. Nevertheless, the Business Environment Regulations and Improvement Committee insist on registering all government and guild licenses in the National Licensing Gateway, leading to disputes among government entities.

Recently, the head of the Business Environment Improvement Center has considered licenses for home-based businesses valid only if issued through the National Licensing Gateway, while the Secretary of the Home Business Support has stated that the necessary infrastructure for transferring licenses from the Business Gateway to the National Licensing Gateway has not been established. This has caused problems in transferring information from the National Gateway to the home business system, as well as obtaining facilities for home businesses.

However, the Business Environment Regulations and Improvement Committee has mandated the issuance of business licenses and drug supply platforms in the design of the post-monitoring system, while also emphasizing the transparency of the licensing process through specialized gateways for government entities.

Nevertheless, the delay report in issuing licenses shows that the current entities in the National Licensing Gateway have left 124,000 license requests unprocessed until September 6. This is despite the Ministry of Economy’s repeated claims that licenses will be issued within three days through the National Licensing Gateway. However, 42% of the requests have been rejected so far, and 11% are still unresolved. Consequently, only 47% of all requests have resulted in licenses issued through the National Licensing Gateway. In fact, 24 government entities in the National Licensing Gateway have left a significant portion of license requests unattended. Nevertheless, many guilds and unions believe that the increasing growth in license issuance through the National Licensing Gateway has disrupted the country’s licensing system, and the efforts of the National Licensing Gateway authorities to respond to all requests are concerning.

Additionally, this report indicates that the Ministry of Interior, municipalities, and the judiciary have not fully connected to the National Licensing Gateway, with the Ministry of Interior and the Medical System Organization having 53% and 30% delays, respectively, in issuing licenses.

The report indicates delays in response to business license requests by the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade, and the Chamber of Guilds. They had an 11% delay in responding, having granted licenses to 140,000 out of more than 283,000 requests and leaving 31,000 requests unresolved.

According to this report, out of 1,131,000 requests submitted to the National Licensing Gateway by mid-Shahrivar (around early September), more than 538,000 requests have resulted in licenses, while 124,000 requests remain unattended by the responsible authority in the National Licensing Gateway, neither rejected nor processed. In fact, 11% of license requests, along with the issuance of licenses for 47% of all requests, have faced operational issues within this gateway.