Securing A Barangay Clearance For An I-Café

After getting a name for an i-café business, securing a barangay clearance is the next step for it to be allowed to operate in the address specified in the DTI business name registration certificate. This is provided for in Section 152 (c) of the Local Government Code of the Philippines. Some cities and municipalities also require an i-café owner to get clearance to operate from homeowners association if the business will be located in a residential area.

The clearances are aimed to ensure the owner's compliance to some rules with regards to peace and order in the community where the business is located. The barangay and/or homeowners clearance is not only required in the opening of

an i-café business. The clearances must be secured every year as a requirement in its renewal of business permit with the local government unit.

Getting A Name For An I-Café Business

Getting a name or registering its business name is the first step in establishing and legally operating an i-café. Normally, a business name is decided on by its owner(s) way before the actual start of setting-up the enterprise such that it sometimes causes frustration when if does not get to be named as desired come its registration with the proper government agencies. To avoid this situation and to save time come registration time, the owner(s) of the business must have at least three (3) names of choice although having such is not a guarantee that the business will get the name that they want because the choices may have been already registered by some other people.

Depending on the type of ownership, an i-café business must be registered with the appropriate government as follows:

1. Partnership and Corporation - Securities and Exchange Commission
2. Single Proprietorship - Department of Trade and Industry

Bandwidth Requirement Of An I-Café

The bandwidth (expressed in kilobits per second or kbps) requirement of an Internet café is always a favorite topic in forums of I-Café owners. Questions like “How many PC units can I run if I subscribe to a regular Smart BRO account?” or “What kind of PLDT Business Plan should I subscribe to if I want to have 16 units in a café that I will open?” The specifications of the different DSL subscriptions cannot help because our Internet Service Providers (ISPs) always specify very high bandwidth per unit to be connected to them because they definitely want to earn more from their subscribers.

Steps In Registering An I-Café Business

This is the first in a series of articles about the steps in the registration of an i-café business with the proper government agencies. It has been echoed many times in different forums and there is truth to the reports that there are many i-cafés operating without the proper permits and licenses. Reasons cited by owners of unregistered i-cafés range from being on trial stage to not knowing how to register their business. Our series of articles on the registration of an i-café business are aimed to  give proper guidelines on how to be legally operating the business right from the start. These guidelines would also be useful to those already operating an i-café but may have missed some legal requirements of the business.