Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) announced an upgrade to its e-Lesen system that cuts business licence renewal time to about three minutes online, eliminating the need for licence holders to visit DBKL offices for payments or printing their licences [1, 2]. The upgrade includes the introduction of barcodes for on-site monitoring and inspections, enabling easier verification during enforcement visits. "We have introduced the use of barcodes for monitoring purposes (on-site). When we conduct inspections at premises, we only use the barcode," said Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud [1].
DBKL is currently processing about 42,000 licence applications, with 92,263 active licences in Kuala Lumpur [1, 2]. Licence holders with outstanding payments must settle arrears before qualifying for discounts or applying for the new multi-year renewal options [1, 2].
Starting July 1, 2026, DBKL will offer business licence renewals for up to three years. Approximately 95,000 licence holders are expected to benefit from the option to renew licences for two or three years, with a 5% discount for two-year renewals and 10% for three-year renewals. Traders may still opt for annual renewals if preferred [3, 4, 5]. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh said, "If they have no compounds or outstanding payments, they will be eligible for discounts if they opt for the two- or three-year renewal period" and stressed the goal to "make KL really business-friendly to everybody and to ease doing business in KL" [3].
Traders less familiar with technology can still visit DBKL offices for assistance while remaining eligible for renewal discounts [1, 2]. The new multi-year validity aims to reduce the burden of annual renewals, lower operational costs, and improve financing confidence for traders [3, 4, 5].
DBKL officials announced the e-Lesen system upgrade and the upcoming multi-year renewal option during a press conference on May 20, 2026 [1, 3, 2, 4, 5]. The three-year renewal scheme and associated discounts will take effect from July 1, 2026 [3, 4, 5].
