The Hindu Business Line : Parliament passes Cos (Amendment) Bill

Parliament on Monday passed a Bill that seeks to give a legal validity to the MCA-21 project, which is a major e-governance initiative of the Ministry of Company Affairs.

The Lok Sabha passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2006 on Monday after a discussion. The Rajya Sabha approved this Bill on March 21without any debate.

The Rs 300-crore MCA-21 project is expected to bring about more efficiency in the administration of the Companies Act. This project mandates and facilitates online filing of statutory documents by companies. The Bill also provides for issuance of director information numbers (DIN) to directors of companies.

"MCA-21 is a revolutionary step that we have taken and approved. There would be e-filing of returns and documents. This would reduce the interface between the Government department and public. The MCA-21 would also deal with frauds. There are also adequate safety measures to ensure the security of data furnished by companies," Mr Prem Chand Gupta, Company Affairs Minister, said in the Lok Sabha. The Minister announced that 1.5 lakh directors had already obtained DINs.

This Bill was necessary as the Companies Act 1956 does not contain adequate enabling provisions to support certain online processes that have since become available due to technological advancement and are essential for the successful implementation of the MCA-21 project.

On the issue of a law for limited liability partnerships (LLPs), Mr Gupta said that this was under the consideration of the Government.