Tunisia's business register goes fully digital on Tuesday as paper filings end and digital identity becomes mandatory

Tunisia's National Business Register switches to fully digital operations on Wednesday 1 July, ending paper filings after a hundred years and making a digital identity credential mandatory for every company, trader and association seeking to register, update or obtain a certificate through the register.

Mohamed Adel Chouari, director-general of the National Business Register (the RNE), announced the cutover date at an awareness seminar in Tunis on 21 June, attended by company directors, lawyers and accountants. He said the shift marks the centenary of the commercial register, which was created in July 1926.

Two credentials, two categories of user

From 1 July, access to the RNE's platform at registre-entreprises.tn requires a digital identity credential. Two systems apply depending on the type of user: individuals must hold a Mobile ID, while companies and other legal entities must use DigiGo, which is dedicated to the digital identification of juridical entities.

DigiGo is an electronic certificate that allows companies to identify and authenticate themselves and carry out administrative procedures online, and it guarantees secure transactions.

Mobile ID, introduced on 3 August 2022, provides a secure digital identity based on multi-factor authentication and links a user's national identity card number to their mobile phone number. The system is the result of a partnership between the Ministry of Communication Technologies, the National Electronic Certification Agency (Tuntrust), the National Computer Centre, and the country's three mobile operators — Tunisie Telecom, Ooredoo and Orange — which verify users' identities.

The platform is accessible to companies or to the intermediaries who represent them — lawyers, accountants and chartered accountants — using an electronic identifier, either Mobile ID or DigiGo.

What changes and what does not

From 1 July, all procedures will be carried out exclusively online, marking the definitive end of physical file submissions at the counters. The counters will remain open to support users and guide them through their administrative procedures.

Electronic signatures will replace the traditional round stamp and notarised copies, and there will no longer be any need for certified copies legalised by municipalities. Chouari emphasised that electronically submitted documents will carry the same legal value and evidentiary force as physical documents before courts and public administrations.

The change follows a Finance Ministry decree of 12 February 2026 authorising remote existence declarations, which means the business creation process will become fully digital, from reserving a company name to obtaining a tax identification number and the extract from the National Business Register, without any need for physical travel between offices.

Consequences of not complying

Failure to follow procedures within the legal deadlines can lead to a refusal of the filing request. A refusal cannot constitute grounds for a refund of fees already paid.

Chouari drew a distinction between holding a digital credential and being registered at the RNE at all. He underlined the mandatory nature of registration for licensed operators, distinguishing between registration with the tax revenue office — which has a purely fiscal character — and registration with the RNE, which gives a company its economic and legal identity and opens access to the documents, contracts and data needed for its legal operations. Companies that have a trading licence but have never registered with the RNE are, in his words, operating outside the law and are liable to criminal and financial penalties, the La Presse seminar report said.

The digital identity requirement extends beyond the RNE. The Tunisian Investment Authority announced on 23 June that Mobile ID will become mandatory from 1 July for all investors seeking to declare projects through official digital platforms, as part of the continuation of the digitalisation of administrative services and the simplification of investment procedures. Those who fail to register will no longer be able to submit investment projects through the country's official digital platforms.

What comes next

The 1 July change is the first of two steps. The RNE has announced the launch of an "electronic safe" (coffre-fort électronique), a secure digital platform that will become mandatory from 1 September 2026, as part of the national digitalisation strategy. It will give company legal representatives access to a unique, secure and permanent digital space grouping all documents and contracts held by the register, with free access available around the clock. Each registered company will automatically receive an electronic safe linked to its unique identifier — its matricule fiscal.

The legal framework for digital identity in Tunisia runs from the e-commerce law through to decree-law 31 of 2020 on electronic data exchange, along with other regulatory texts, Chouari noted.

The principal objective of the reform, Chouari said, is to reach a "zero paper" principle for all administrative operations, including company creation, modification and document submission.

Businesses, traders, associations and self-employed professionals who have not yet obtained their digital credential are urged by the RNE to do so before Wednesday. The register's platform is at registre-entreprises.tn.