More losers, less winners in routine CR gamble
Many Bahrainis are in a tight spot after renting out their Commercial Registration (CRs) licences to expats in their bid to make easy money. Sources say it is quite common for small scale expat businessmen to approach Bahrainis for their CRs as the Kingdom’s law doesn’t allow them to fully own many businesses. According to Bahrain Investments Centre, there are more than 90,000 CRs issued by the end of August 2017 to start various businesses and a majority of them are being used by expats, who lock deal with their “Bahraini licence owners”. The rental rates for CRs vary between BD200 and BD400 a month, according to the size, nature and location of the business, the sources say. But the worst side of the deal is that Bahrainis ultimately become liable for debts and other liabilities created by these expats, who in many cases, have left the Kingdom after borrowing huge amounts or committing fraudulent practices.
On the flip side, there are also expats who have been cheated by Bahrainis. Muhannad Ozjan, a Turkish national started his saloon along with a Bahraini friend after investing BD5,000. “After a year of success, we opened another shop and I invested BD7,000 in that. But the honeymoon did not last long. He began raising CR rent with warnings of throwing me out of business. Eventually, I was forced out of the shop. I could not seek any legal mechanisms as there was no official contract between me and him.”
Speaking to Tribune, lawyer Faisal Al Ajman said the current law prohibits Bahrainis from renting commercial registrations to foreigners. “According to the country’s Industrial and commercial law, a Bahraini CR owner can only rent or sell the CR to another Bahraini. The contracts between Bahrainis and foreigners to rent out CRs is invalid, whether this agreement is between individuals or companies.”
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