eInformation - registration

Even without prior registration you are able to view the basic information (name, address, and activities) of companies registered in Berlin. Extended information about companies – such as the names and addresses of managing directors – is available subject to prior one-off registration with the District Office Mitte in Berlin as the central registration office.

A number of conditions must be met to qualify for registration:

Registration for recipients of information required to pay fees (e.g. lawyers, credit agencies, insurance companies)

According to § 14 sections 8 and 12 of the Trade Regulations Gewo, if you are not exempt from fees due to legal provisions, you are only eligible for using the automated information services, if

1. you can credibly demonstrate that you have a legal interest in knowledge of the transmitted data. In the context of registration you must confirm in writing that you have a legal interest in obtaining the data of any company information that you obtain in the future. For each data request you will furthermore be asked to indicate the purpose and a reference number. This information is saved and may be used by the trade authorities to verify at a later date, whether your request was legitimate.
2. there is no reason to assume that the business operators have a protection-worthy overriding interest in non-disclosure of the data
3. obtaining the data is appropriate due to frequency or urgency of the requests and under consideration of protection-worthy interests of the business operators.

Registration of recipients of information who are required to pay fees, is initially limited to one year. The registration office will then review eligibility.

Registration for recipients of information that are exempted from fees (e.g. administrative facilities, social insurance carriers, employment agencies)

According to § 14 sections 7 and 12 of the Trade Regulations GewO, if you are exempt from fees due to legal provisions, you are only eligible for using the automated information services, if

1. knowledge of the data is necessary to prevent a current risk to public security or significant disadvantages to common welfare, or
2. obtaining the data from the business operator would require unreasonable effort for the recipient, or if this type of data collection must be refrained from due to the nature of the task for which knowledge of the data is required, and if there is no reason to assume that the business operators have a protection-worthy overriding interest in non-disclosure of the data
3. obtaining the data is appropriate due to frequency or urgency of the requests and under consideration of protection-worthy interests of the business operators, and provided that the data available for retrieval is of a nature that might make it necessary for fulfilling the recipient’s tasks or business purposes.

There is no limited registration period for recipients of information that are exempted from fees.