URSB’s UGX 6.5 Billion Online Business Registration System Plagued by Delays and Weak Safeguards
February 10, 2026
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau’s (URSB) flagship Online Business Registration System (OBRS) remains slow, unreliable, and vulnerable to abuse despite an investment of nearly UGX 6.5 billion, according to the Auditor General.
In the Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2025, the Auditor General faults the system, launched in December 2022 to modernize and accelerate business registration, for persistent operational failures. The reported issues include frequent system outages, significant processing delays, weak fraud controls, and serious data privacy gaps.
The audit reveals that over a three-year period, URSB spent UGX 6.49 billion on designing, developing, and maintaining the OBRS as part of the government’s broader digital reform agenda. This substantial investment stands in stark contrast to the platform’s ongoing performance deficiencies, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the expenditure.
The findings highlight a critical setback in efforts to improve Uganda’s business climate through digitalization, as entrepreneurs continue to face hurdles in accessing essential registration services meant to be streamlined by the online portal.
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