The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill with a brief debate of 20 minutes. Asserting that it is a “very timely Bill” Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said it will help the start-ups, professional limited liability partnerships, chartered accountants, and cost accountants. “All of them will be benefited by ease of doing business,” Sitharaman said. The Opposition members were protesting a discussion on Pegasus Spyware issue during the debate started at 2 pm on Wednesday.

The Bill will decriminalise 12 offences under the law and help to improve ease of doing business by amending the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008. Sitharaman said in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill that it was brought in view of the constant endeavour of the Centre to facilitate greater ease of living to law abiding corporates and to decriminalise certain provisions of the LLP Act. The amendments include introduction of the concept of “small limited liability partnership” in line with the concept of “small company” under the Companies Act, 2013. It also amends certain sections of the Act so as to convert offences into civil defaults and to convert the nature of punishment provided in the said sections from fines to monetary penalties.

A new section 34A will be inserted to empower the Centre to prescribe the “Accounting Standards” or “Auditing Standards” for a class or classes of limited liability partnerships. Section 39, in amended form, will deal with “compounding of offences” so as to authorise the Regional Director to compound any offence under this Act which is punishable with fine only. New section 67A empowers the Centre to establish “Special Courts” for providing speedy trial of offences under the Act.

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