In a major relief for Corporate India, the Government has extended the timeline for holding Annual General Meetings (AGMs) for the financial year ended March 31, 2020 to December 31. The earlier deadline wasSeptember 30.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has issued directions to the Registrar of Companies (RoCs) to issue orders to give such extension to all companies in their jurisdiction without requiring the filing of formal application and payment of fee, an official release said.

This move, which is expected to bring relief relief to around 12 lakh companies, will also cover applications already filed but not approved or even rejected, the release added.

MCA is extending this timeline due to Covid-19 and meeting the demand from various associations for extending time to hold AGM. This is for the first time that such relief has been given to all companies.

The company law stipulates that a company should hold its AGM within a period of six months (nine months in case of first AGM) from the closure of financial year and not later than a period of 15 months from the date of the previous AGM.

On the heels of the latest MCA directions, RoCs across the country on Tuesday issued separate orders allowing companies in their jurisdiction to hold AGMs till December 31, sources said.

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