MCA to roll out e-adjudication before March-end
1 min read . Updated: 27 Jan 2023, 11:43 PM IST
PremiumThe e-adjudication facility will be available for compoundable offences and will help in preventing litigation reaching the NCLT, which already has a high load of cases.
NEW DELHI : The ministry of corporate affairs will roll out the facility for e-adjudication of company law violations entirely in the virtual mode before the end of this financial year, the ministry said.
It said the ongoing process of revamping the corporate filing system will also be completed by end of March as it is being done in phases. The ministry said key features of the revamped MCA21 portal, such as e-adjudication, e-consultation and compliance management are proposed to be launched within this financial year. The ministry said it is also setting up a new national centre—the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit—to act as a single window facility for companies that wish to voluntarily exit from business.The e-adjudication facility will be available for compoundable offences and will help in preventing litigation reaching the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which already has a high load of cases. E-adjudication is also expected to improve the ease of doing business.
The planned roll out of the e-adjudication facility follows the decriminalisation of offences under the Companies Act. Once implemented, the facility is expected to lower the compliance burden of businesses. For the de-criminalised offences, a designated government official will be the adjudicating authority. Since these are procedural or technical lapses, they will be resolved within the ecosystem of the ministry of corporate affairs. Version three of MCA21 envisages introduction of artificial intelligence and machine learning which will further facilitate ease of doing business, the ministry said.
The ministry said it played a proactive role in enabling hassle-free functioning of businesses during the pandemic by allowing virtual board meetings through video conferencing and other audio-visual means by amending the rules on conducting board meetings.
Also, the ministry relaxed mandated physical meetings on specified matters and allowed all the matters in board meetings to be dealt with through video conferencing or other audio-visual means. Annual general meetings and extraordinary general meetings have also been allowed virtually.The ministry said the way it has leveraged technology and established linkages with other agencies in facilitating single window approvals has helped in the corporate sector’s growth.
The number of new company registrations has grown from over 64,300 in FY15 to over 167,000 new registrations in FY22. The ministry also said it has linked the MCA21 system with the Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT) for issue of permanent account number (PAN) and Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) within a day on an average for companies incorporated using a facility offered by it.
