Implementing rules for Ease of Doing Business Act

Policy and interpretation mandate

The IRR promote integrity and accountability in government with the public and adopt simplified requirements and procedures to reduce red tape and expedite business and non-business transactions in government.
The IRR must be construed and interpreted in light of the policy objective to promote integrity, accountability, proper management of public affairs and public property, efficient turnaround of government service delivery, and the prevention of graft and corruption.
Any doubt in interpretation must be resolved in a manner consistent with the policy of promoting integrity, accountability, efficient turnaround, and prevention of graft and corruption.

Legal basis and governing framework

The IRR are promulgated to implement and operationalize Republic Act No. 11032, which amends Republic Act No. 9485 (the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007).
The IRR require compliance with mechanisms and timelines designed to institutionalize ease of doing business and efficient government service delivery.
The IRR recognize the Anti-Red Tape Authority as the central authority created under Section 17 of Republic Act No. 11032 and implement whole-of-government reforms through coordination with other government bodies.

Key definitions for implementation

The IRR retain all terms from Republic Act No. 9485 that are not amended or altered by Republic Act No. 11032.
The IRR define “Act” as Republic Act No. 11032 (Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018).
The IRR define “Agency” as any government unit, including departments, bureaus, offices, instrumentalities, and GOCCs, and any local government or distinct unit therein, including authorized officers by law or executive order.
The IRR define “Action” as written approval or disapproval by a government office or agency on an application or request.
The IRR define “Authority” as the Anti-Red Tape Authority created under Section 17 of Republic Act No. 11032.
The IRR define “Applications or requests” as formal requests to an authority for access to government service.
The IRR define “Citizen’s Charter” as the service standard document under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 11032, describing uniform checklists, procedure, responsible persons, maximum time, fees, and complaint-filing procedure.
The IRR define “Processing Time” as the time consumed by covered government offices and agencies from acceptance of an application/request with complete requirements and payment of fees, up to issuance of approval/disapproval/certification, with each stage having its own processing time.
The IRR define “Zero-Contact Policy” as limiting interactions with an applicant to preliminary assessment of sufficiency of submitted requirements, unless interaction is strictly necessary for processing.
The IRR define “Working day” as a day where officers and employees are required to render work.
The IRR define “Whole-of-Government Approach” as integrated public service delivery characterized by seamless transactions, interoperable processes, horizontal coordination, strengthened linkages, and clustering of services across government to citizens, businesses, and government units.

Coverage and scope rules

The IRR and the Act apply to all government offices and agencies in the Executive Department, including LGUs, GOCCs, and other government instrumentalities, located in the Philippines or abroad, that provide services involving business-related and non-business transactions.
The IRR cover business-related and non-business transactions involving permitting, licensing, and issuance of any privilege, right, reward, clearance, authorization, or concession, including frontline services enrolled in the existing Citizen’s Charter, their backend/support services, and related regulatory functions.
Agencies must issue an initial list of all covered permits, licenses, and issuances according to Section 10 of the Act, and that list may be reviewed and updated as necessary.
The IRR require respect for and observance of international laws, rules and regulations, and treaties and executive agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Reengineering, regulatory management, and RIA

Agencies that provide government services must conduct compliance cost analysis, undertake time-and-motion studies, evaluate and improve their services, and reengineer services if needed to reduce red tape and processing time and promote efficiency and simplicity.
Each agency must designate a unit to perform these functions and conduct Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of proposed regulations to ensure they do not add undue regulatory burden and cost.
Streamlining and process improvement must cover G2C, G2B, and G2G transactions cited in the agency’s Citizen’s Charter.
Agencies must submit a comprehensive list of their services to the Authority, including detailed steps (with flowcharts showing front end/back end), transaction costs (primary fees and other supporting-information costs), substantial compliance costs, the number of signatures, and the number of documents.
Signatories on documents are limited to a maximum of three (3).
Agencies must initiate review mechanisms including: reducing signatures to not more than three (3), simplifying forms/document requirements, automating/computerizing processes, reducing processing time, and reducing costs.
Agencies must review the location of service offices and the feasibility of establishing one-stop shops.
The Authority adopts a Whole-of-Government Approach by reviewing and harmonizing applicable laws, regulations, issuances, and policies to ensure consistent legal interpretations across agencies, and by implementing inter-agency reviews for horizontal integration and end-to-end processing.
The Authority may issue further guidelines in implementing whole-of-government reengineering and streamlining, in coordination with NEDA, DBM, and CSC.
The Authority must develop and establish a Regulatory Management System (RMS) comprising regulatory management framework, institutional arrangements, regulatory policy cycle, and enforcement & compliance strategies.
The Authority must provide training programs and prepare regulatory management manuals for agencies and LGUs, and these manuals must include proportionality rules and threshold parameters.
All agencies must conduct an RIA for major regulations under proportionality rules and apply RIA to outdated, redundant, and unduly burdensome regulations or regulatory changes.
Each agency must draft a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) prepared before a new regulation is introduced or an existing regulation is modified or repealed.
The Authority must review the quality of RIA to avoid overlapping regulations across agencies and reduce regulatory burden and cost.
When necessary, a proposed regulation may undergo pilot implementation subject to clearance of heads of agencies.
Government agencies covered under the Act must notify the Authority of every formulation, modification, and repeal of regulations, including the rationale and research documentation.
Agencies must conduct consultations to ensure regulatory quality and disseminate RIA results as feedback/feedforward.
The Authority must approve or disapprove RIS based on its review.
The Authority may forward RIS and review results to Congress for appropriate action when deemed necessary.
Within six (6) months from effectivity of the IRR, covered agencies and LGUs must review and harmonize existing regulations for business-related and non-business transactions and repeal unnecessary and redundant policies to lessen regulatory burdens, subject to Authority guidelines.
Local government units must, in coordination with DILG, scrutinize and classify existing ordinances and synchronize payment periods for local business taxes and issuance of business permits/licenses.
The Authority may, motu proprio or upon receipt of a complaint, exercise review power for regulations that are outdated, redundant, or add undue regulatory burden, and recommend repeal of the reviewed law, executive issuance, and/or local ordinance if warranted.

Citizen’s Charter standards and accountability

A Citizen’s Charter communicates simple service standards or pledge of an agency’s frontline services, describes step-by-step procedure, responsible persons per step, required documents, and fees.
Each Citizen’s Charter has dual purpose: establishing accountability and recognizing good performance to grant rewards and incentives.
Administrative and criminal liability arises only upon failure, without due cause, to render government service within prescribed processing time of three (3) days for simple transactions, seven (7) days for complex transactions, and twenty (20) working days for highly technical transactions or transactions involving activities posing danger to public health, public safety, public morals, or public policy.
Citizen’s Charters must be posted using billboards and readable formats (including touchscreen interactive kiosks, electronic billboards, posters, tarpaulins, and standees) at main entrances or most conspicuous places.
Citizen’s Charters must be published in websites and in English, Filipino, or the local dialect through readable materials.
Citizen’s Charter content must include: an exhaustive and specific uniform checklist of requirements; procedure to obtain the service (including steps and duration per step); persons responsible per step (named or designated); maximum time to conclude the process expressed in working days/hours/minutes; where documents can be requested, including copy type and number of copies; fees and where to pay; and complaint-filing procedure with names/contact numbers of heads of offices involved plus contact information of the Presidential Complaints Center, Complaints Action Center of the Authority, Contact Center ng Bayan (CCB), and CSC feedback facilities.
Agencies must identify and indicate all government services offered and adopt improved processing time posted in their Citizen’s Charter.
Agencies must classify processes into simple, complex, and highly technical transactions and submit the classification to the Authority based on criteria issued by the Authority.
Activities that pose danger to public health, public safety, public morals, or public policy must not be processed longer than twenty (20) working days, or the shorter period set by the concerned government agency/instrumentality.
If agencies fail to include and classify specific transactions/processes/services/activity, the Authority interprets them as simple transactions.
Agency heads must ensure updated Citizen’s Charters are posted not later than March 31 of each year.
Agencies must embed client feedback mechanisms and client satisfaction measurement, and must report results of the Client Satisfaction Survey for each service to the Authority under Authority guidelines.
Agencies must regularly review Citizen’s Charters, including procedures/steps, time, documentary requirements, and fees.
Agencies must submit a new Citizen’s Charter to the Authority within ninety (90) working days from effectivity of the IRR or from issuance of a new Citizen’s Charter template by the Authority, whichever comes first.
The head of the office/agency must ensure compliance with Citizen’s Charter preparation requirements.
The Authority must issue (upon effectivity) a Citizen’s Charter template and criteria for classifying transactions into simple/complex/highly technical, and must monitor and review submitted Citizen’s Charters and implementation.

Zero-contact and electronic processing

All government agencies, including LGUs, must adopt a zero-contact policy, limiting interactions to preliminary assessment and evaluation of the sufficiency of submitted requirements, unless strictly necessary for processing.
Transparency must be observed in general by public officials and employees to encourage honest and efficient delivery and discourage wrong perceptions of graft and corruption.
Electronic submission of applications, requests, and/or payments must be preferred where available, and communications must be sent via email, other electronic means, or agency websites whenever practicable.
The DICT must launch a web-based software enabled business registration system to route all government transactions with the public through it.
Strictly necessary exceptions include:
- Payment of application and other fees when the agency has no electronic/online payment facility or the applicant prefers over-the-counter payment, allowing cashier interaction with immediate issuance of an Official Receipt (OR).
- For complex and/or highly technical transactions, interactions integral to inspection, training, or meeting, or interactions done upon written request of the applicant, which may be recorded with prior consent and documented through minutes and an attendance sheet.
The DICT must create the web-based software enabled business registration system within one (1) year from IRR effectivity, and thereafter all transactions must be coursed through the system.

Processing, timelines, denials, and signatories

Officers and employees must accept, process, approve, or deny applications/requests in line with the IRR.
Responsible officers/employees must accept written applications/requests/documents submitted by applicants/requesting parties subject to succeeding requirements.
Receiving officers/employees must preliminarily assess completeness of the application/request and supporting documents against the agency checklist of requirements and must immediately inform applicants of deficiencies limited to those enumerated in the Citizen’s Charter, enumerating all missing requirements.
Deficient or incomplete applications/requests must not be processed, and processing time starts only once the applicant rectifies deficiencies.
For multi-stage processes, processing time for each stage starts when the applicant completes prior stage requirements and submits all requirements for the subsequent stage and pays applicable fees.
Receiving officers/employees must assign a unique identification number to the application/request for use in all subsequent transactions.
Agencies must issue an acknowledgment receipt for complete applications/requests containing the unique identification number, agency seal, responsible officer/employee name, unit and designation, and date/time of receipt; online submissions must receive a response containing the same elements.
Assigned officers/employees must act within Citizen’s Charter prescribed processing time not longer than:
- three (3) working days for simple transactions;
- seven (7) working days for complex transactions;
- twenty (20) working days for activities posing danger to public health/public safety/public morals/public policy and for highly technical transactions, or the shorter period determined by the agency/instrumentality.
Extensions of the maximum processing time may be made only once for the same number of days shown in the Citizen’s Charter, with written notice to the applicant of the reason for extension and final release date signed by the applicant; electronic or scanned signatures may be used.
If obtaining written acknowledgment is not feasible, the responsible officer/employee must exhaust available communication means (including email and/or SMS) and must show proof of such communication.
Highly technical transactions involving research, field trials, scientific methodology, or inter-government actions may use a multi-stage system subject to Authority approval, with total processing time not exceeding forty (40) days.
For Authority-approved multi-stage systems, agencies receiving applications requiring permits from other agencies must process without waiting for the other agency’s action, applying a presumption of prior issuance of the relevant permit.
The presumption of prior approval is disputable and subject to post-audit confirmation; failure during post-audit results in revocation of the issued permit/license.
Where approval of a local sanggunian is required, the sanggunian must act within forty-five (45) working days, extendable for another twenty (20) working days; if denied, the sanggunian must cite reasons and remedial measures available to the applicant.
Processing times are suspended for delays due to force majeure or natural or man-made disasters causing document/system damage or computerized/automatic processing failure; the responsible official/employee must notify applicants in writing and by other means without delay, and the agency head must certify system failure and post the certification conspicuously on agency premises.
No application/request may be returned to the applicant without appropriate action; appropriate action is approval or disapproval/denial.
For disapproved applications/requests, the officer/employee must notify the applicant within prescribed processing time and state the reason for disapproval.
A competent authority’s finding of a violation of laws by the applicant/requesting party constitutes a valid ground for disapproval, without prejudice to other grounds under the Act or other laws.
Any denial must be fully explained in writing by the denying officer, stating the name of the person making the denial and the fair, just, and reasonable grounds, and must have approval of the immediate supervisor of the denying officer/employee.
Document signatories are limited to a maximum of three (3) full signatures representing officers directly supervising the issuance of the relevant privilege/right/reward/license/clearance/permit/authorization/concession; initials of other officers should not be affixed to documents released/issued.
If the authorized signatory is on official business or official leave, an alternate signatory must be designated.
Electronic signatures and pre-signed licenses/clearances/permits/certifications/authorizations may be used, provided relevant electronic signature laws and DICT rules on electronic signatures are observed.
Within ninety (90) days from IRR effectivity, agency heads must submit an inter-office memorandum to the Authority listing authorized/regular signatories for each issued document and delegation rules when regular signatories are absent, including:
- if only one next-in-rank official exists, that official automatically signs;
- if two or more next-in-rank officials exist within the same organizational unit, the memorandum must prescribe the priority order;
- if no next-in-rank official is available, the head designates an officer-in-charge from the next lower rank in the same organizational unit.
Agencies must, where applicable, develop electronic versions of licenses, clearance, permits, certifications, or authorizations with the same level of authority as hard copy, which applicants may print for convenience.