The Hindu Business Line : Voting through Net

When that becomes a handy tool to gauge the response of the shareholders to the proposals placed before the members at the annual general meetings (AGMs), providing in the process a cost effective and speedy mechanism in decision-making, trust Infosys to grab the opportunity!

If the postal ballot system spared the corporates the elaborate preparations needed to convene any meeting to seek shareholders' approval for any decision, the non-mandatory ballot through the Internet has provided a still faster and economic way to assess the shareholders' response to any proposal.

In a note attached to its latest annual report, Infosys has said though "a proposal may have received the assent of the requisite majority of shareholders present at the AGM, the overall shareholder response to any proposal is not captured or known".

It said towards this objective, in the previous three AGMs, the company had made available a non-mandatory ballot through the postal system to help the shareholders to informally air their views on the resolutions proposed at the AGMs. This helped the company to assess the general view of the absentee shareholders. The company said during this year, it has "set up the non-mandatory ballot through the Internet instead of the postal system". This is not in substitution of or in addition to the rights of the shareholders to vote at the AGM.

Infosys said the non-mandatory ballot through the Internet "will not have the force of a legally binding vote and will not be construed as a voted at the AGM".

The result of such a ballot would not impact the votes cast at the AGM and to validly cast their votes, the members would have to be present in person or through a valid proxy at the AGM. Regardless of the participation in the Internet balloting, the shareholders are entitled to attend and vote at the AGM or appoint a proxy.

The company has laid out the procedure for the investors having demat accounts with DPs connected to National Securities Depository Ltd and Central Depository Services (India) Ltd and those having shares in physical form as to how to vote through the Internet. The portal, which opened on May 25, would be kept open till 5 p.m. on June 7.

The company has appointed Mr Parameshwar Hegde, practicing Company Secretary, as the scrutiniser for the Internet voting exercise. The 25th AGM of Infosys would be held on June 10 at Bangalore.

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