Home-Based Businesses Can Continue to Operate But Would Be fined $1,000 If They Break Certain Rules

Do you know that you can run a home-based business right in your HDB flat?

Yes, unless you’ve bought a cake from a home-based business or gone to a house to have your hair cut, you probably didn’t know about the Home Office Scheme or the Home-Based Small Scale Business Scheme.

In fact, HDB has listed down a few examples that you can run right in the comfort of your house:

• Baking on a small scale
• Hairdressing, beauty, manicure, or pedicure services
• Simple factory work on a work rate basis
• Private tuition for not more than 3 students at a time
• Sewing services
• Work as a freelance artist, journalist, photographer, or writer

But with Circuit Breaker measures, and a surge in demand for home-made products for Ramadan and Hari Raya, the question of how the measures would impact these businesses have been raised.

It all started when Malay newspaper Berita Harian reported that some food-based home businesses wondered whether they can continue fulfilling the orders they’ve taken for the coming Hari Raya celebrations.

And the authorities have answered.

Can Operate As Long As It Doesn’t Break Circuit Breaker Measures

A joint statement by four government agencies, the Trade and Industry Ministry, Environment and Water Resources Ministry, Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority, has provided the answer to the burning question.

Yes, you can continue to operate as long as you don’t break any of the Circuit Breaker measures. But read on because you most probably can’t.

They said, “During the circuit breaker period, home-based businesses in public and private housing can operate only if all the criteria in the Ministry of Health’s guidelines and the latest provision under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 are met.

“If the nature of the home-based business does not meet the stipulated regulations, it will need to cease operations. This includes home-based food and beverage businesses.”

If the rules are broken, they would be fined $1,000.

HDB has a FAQs page that answers all the questions. The examples of how not to break the rules are:

• The business operates solely online, without requiring yourself to leave the residential premise
• The business does not require customers to self-collect the goods or require third-party delivery services to deliver goods
• Staff (if any) can work from their own respective homes

In other words, the whole idea is that you can’t meet anyone physically.

Which means you can just get Ninja Van to—oh, hold on.

If you read carefully, you ‘d see the problem.

The business does not require customers to self-collect the goods or require third-party delivery services to deliver goods

This means even if you bake at home, you can’t send it to your customers because unlike eateries that can enlist the services of food delivery platforms or third-party delivery services, you can’t do it.

The rules would then suggest that home-based businesses must be fully online without any physical products, like an interior designer or a writer.

Yes, the nasty bug just had another casualty.