The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has closed Investor Helpline, an investors' grievance redress portal set up under the Investor Education & Protection Fund (IE&PF).
Henceforth, any grievances will be handled by the Ministry through its Web site MCA-21.
“We have done it to avoid duplication,” Mr Naved Masood, Secretary, MCA told Business Line.
IE&PF was established under Section 205C of the Companies Act, 1956, by amending the Companies Act, 1999. The primary objectives of the Fund as per the Act are “promotion of investors' awareness” and “protection of the interests of investors.”
Investor Helpline was an online grievance redress cell that dealt with more than 10,000 listed companies. The Ministry deals with eight lakh companies both online and offline. The Helpline received 14,300 grievances in 4.5 years of which it successfully redressed or closed 98 per cent, according to Mr Virendra Jain, President of Midas Touch Investors Association, who was asked by the Ministry to set up the Helpline.
“Whatever decision we have taken is in public interest. The number of complaints being registered on the helpline has gone down and ours has increased. Henceforth MCA-21 run by TCS will look into the grievances through the Registrars of Companies and Regional Directors,” said a senior Ministry official.
The corpus of the IE&PF is Rs 500 crore with an annual budget of Rs five crore. The Investor Helpline used to get Rs 50 lakh per annum.
A Ministry official told Business Line that Investor Helpline had no relation with IE&PF.
On July 6, Investor Helpline received intimation from the MCA that its contract was not being extended and that it should wrap up its offices and transfer all data to MCA21 by June 30. No explanation was given. Mr Jain approached Mr Veerappa Moily, Minister for MCA, who has promised a re-examination of the matter.