The coronavirus pandemic is affecting many industries. The Ministry of Industry and Trade thus prepared the third call for the COVID Rent program.

Purpose/conditions: Payment of at least 50% of the decisive rent by the aid applicant before applying. If the rent payments were postponed by the applicant for support based on Act no. No. 210/2020 Coll., or by an agreement between the aid applicant and the lessor, the condition is considered to be fulfilled if at least 50% of the decisive rent is paid by the aid applicant before submitting the aid application.

The maximum amount of support: The support is the same as for Call No.2, which is 50% of the rent. The maximum amount of support is 10 million CZKfor all establishments of one applicant. (For this purpose, the support granted in the individual calls of the COVID - Rent program is not added up.) The applicant is also obliged to check that the support limit is not exceeded according to point 3.1. valid EC Temporary Framework. (For this purpose, the aids granted in the individual calls of the COVID - Rent program are added together). The release of the funds of approved applications will take place after the notification of Call No.3 of the COVID Rent Program by the European Commission.

Decisive period: October 1, 2020 -  December 31, 2020 (October, November, December, respectively 4th quarter of 2020)

Receipt of application:  February 5, 2021 -  April 8, 2021.

Method of submission: Through the information system accessible from the AIS MIT Portal. Pay attention! Before working on the portal, it is necessary to establish an active identity of a physical person (account), the so-called e-Identity. Applications can be submitted, modified and evaluated, but the release of grant funds will be possible only after the notification of the Program by the European Commission, which is still ongoing. All necessary confirmations and forms are prepared for the applicant in the information system.

If the applicant has successfully applied in Call No. 2, the system supports automatic import of his user data and all establishments. Therefore, if the applicant has no change in his data, he/she can only copy the successful application from the second call and submit it (this will save the applicant a lot of time and energy). The lessor's solemn declaration does not need a certified signature. The MIT will also not assess the so-called affinity of persons, close persons, persons controlling, acting in concert, significant influence, or the consolidation unit. The only limit remains that the natural person of the tenant and the landlord must not be the same.

Establishments that had an exemption from government crisis measures and were not prohibited from selling retail goods or providing services to customers are added to the list of applicants. This applies to laundries, dry cleaners, florists, pet supplies, tea shops, etc. These establishments must demonstrate a decrease in sales for the 4th quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 by at least 66%.

What's new in Call No.3: In addition to establishments that had to be closed due to government crisis measures, retail entrepreneurs who fall under the exceptions explicitly mentioned in points I. 1. a) to I. 1. and f) of Decree no. 1376 of 23 December 2020, and show that their sales of goods or services decreased by at least 66% over the same period in 2019 as a result of the exceptional and crisis measures taken.

Call No. 3 - simplified and compared to previous calls for the COVID Rent Program

• If the applicant applied for Call No. 2 of the COVID Rent Program and the application was successful, the AIS MIT system will offer the import of applicants' data from the submitted application and data for individual establishments.
• The officially verified signature is not required for the affidavit by the landlord.
• The obstacle to applying is not the so-called affinity of persons, close persons, persons controlling, acting in concert, significant influence, or the consolidation unit. The only condition is that the natural person of the tenant and the landlord must not be the same.

Who is an eligible applicant?

• Entrepreneur - a physical or legal person performing business activities based on the Trade Licensing Act No. 455/1991 Coll., as amended or similar.
• In the relevant period (4th quarter of 2020), the applicant used an establishment, based on an existing lease valid and effective in the relevant period. The condition is that the applicant's tenancy relationship with the given establishment was valid and effective before October 1, 2020.
• According to Government Decree No. 1376 of December 23, 2020, the applicant was banned from the retail business in the establishment, i.e. the sale of goods or services to customers in the establishments or decreased by the applicant at the establishments which are the subject of the application 1. a) to I. 1. and f) the above-mentioned decree, as a result of the adopted extraordinary and crisis measures, sales of goods or services for the relevant period compared to the same period in 2019 by at least 66 %.

We recommend that you review the program documents, before applying.

If the applicant has already registered in the system in the first call, a new registration is not necessary.

The most frequently asked questions and answers about the entire program can be found on the BusinessInfo.cz portal. (We recommend using translation extensions in your browser.)

Methodological support for applicants for support (Mon-Sun 8 AM–5 PM):

• e-mail: covidnajemne@mpo.cz

Technical support for AIS MIT application users (Mon-Sun 8 AM–5 PM):

• e-mail: hotline-aismpo@asd-software.cz
• phone: 841 135 135

General information about the program (Mon-Sun 8 AM–5 PM):

• MIT information line: 1212

If you have an acute legal problem, you can contact the free telephone consultation on this website.