Things you need know about Anti-Red Tape Act Law

Getting a permit, license or certificates in government offices is a difficult and the lengthy process. We’ve heard of people offering to process paperworks and also some people accepting “monetary gifts” to speed up the processing. It can get pretty dirty for a simple transaction.

Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, or Republic Act No. 9485, is a law to improve efficiency in delivery of government services to the public. This is done to reduce bureaucratic red tape, preventing graft and corruption and providing penalties

Here are the things you need know about ARTA Law

Efficient government service processing

We’ve all heard the horrors of having of the difficulty and the lengthy process of getting a permit, license or certificates in government offices. ARTA Law will make it easier and faster processing and thereby saving both time and money.

This applies to ALL government offices and agencies

This ACT does not exclude offices. It applies to all government offices and agencies in both local government units and government owned or controlled corporations. However offices excluded from this Act are those that performs judicial, quasi-judicial and legislative functions.

Amended of a better ARTA

On May 28, 2018, Republic Act (RA) No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) Act was passed. The EDB Act amended the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 to encourage competitiveness and improve the overall business environment. These amendments are aimed at providing the public with quality government service as quickly as possible while substantially reducing expense, inconvenience, and wasted time.

Broadly, RA No. 11032 requires government agencies to streamline business registration and compliance procedures.

Introduction of the Business One Stop Shop

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) also mandates that all local government units must fully implement a Business One-Stop Shops (BOSS) for business registration and license renewals. This will allow quicker service turn-around as well as saves the businesses time and money when processing their paperwork.

ARTA will hold offices accountable

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the office that implements this Act, will start conducting a series of on-the-spot inspections on LGUs, starting January 2021, in the National Capital Region and other Highly Urbanized Cities. This means that they can look into and audit offices based on what is required in the Republic Act 11032 and other ARTA polices.

Any LGUs who will be found not complying with the requirements shall receive notices and may also be subjected to a formal investigation and/or face an administrative case.

Violators are subjected to penalties

If an employee violates the provisions of law, he/she will be subject to the penalties stated in the Act namely a six month suspension for the first offense and a number of penalties including s fine with a minimum amount of 500,000 PHP for the second offense.

Criminal Liability for Fixers

In addition, Fixers shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment not exceeding six years or a fine of not less than 20,000 PHP but not more than 200,000 PHP or both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.