The Hindu Business Line : e-filing facility for India Inc: Ordinance to amend Cos Act likely

INDIA Inc may no longer be required to visit the Registrar of Companies (RoC) offices to file their documents. The Government is planning to promulgate an Ordinance to amend the Companies Act, 1956, to enable the corporate sector to avail themselves of e-filing facilities.

For the successful implementation of the e-governance project — MCA-21— the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) plans to approach the Cabinet, Company Affairs officials said. Currently, the Companies Act does not prescribe for online filing of statutory documents with the RoCs. On the other hand, MCA-21 envisages electronic filing of these documents including registration of a company, records of a company, adaptation of all statutory forms for electronic filing, scanning and digitisation of permanent records, annual returns and balance sheets. Therefore, an amendment to the Act is necessary.

The Ministry is hopeful that by March-April this year it would have a majority of its RoC offices e-governance compatible. The project is being implemented in two phases. In the first phase, it has been rolled out in MCA head office at New Delhi, RoC offices of Delhi and Coimbatore and Regional Director offices at Kanpur and Chennai. The second phase would see fully functional system covering all MCA locations, the official added.

Implementation of the project commenced with the signing of contract agreement with the operator, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, in March 2005. The project cost is estimated at Rs 345 crore. A the key feature of the project is convenient method of payment by the companies. This would encompass existing payment through banks along with electronic payment option using credit cards and Internet banking. The Reserve Bank of India has approved five banks - State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank for receiving payments under MCA-21.

A total of 53 physical front offices would be opened at different locations to receive the statutory documents in physical form and scan/digitise the same. These front offices would be operational for a period of three years. Asked how the Ministry proposes to monitor non-compliance under the e-governance regime, the officials said the monitoring would be automatic, as the system would throw up alerts in case of defaults. Besides, an efficient and comprehensive analysis of electronic data for defaulter identification is being worked out, the official added.

Further, the individuals who would be signing the documents on behalf of the companies would be required to procure digital signature certificates. The directors would be required to get registered for a director identification number (DIN).

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e-filing facility for India Inc: Ordinance to amend Cos Act likely