Relaxations Introduced by MCA in View of COVID-19

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Jun 30, 2021

Relaxations Introduced by MCA in View of COVID-19

In view of the difficulties faced by stakeholders on account of COVID-19 related restrictions, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (‘MCA’) has introduced the following relaxations:

i. Relaxation of Levy of Additional Fees on Account of Delay in Filing of Forms: The MCA, by way of Circulars dated May 3, 2021 and June 30, 2021, has granted additional time of up to August 31, 2021, for companies and LLPs to make various filings (other than charge related form filings being Forms CHG-1, CHG-4 and CHG-9) under the Companies Act, 2013 (‘Companies Act’) and LLP Act, 2008, which were due to be made in the period between April 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021. No additional fees will be levied up to August 31, 2021, for delayed filing of such forms.

ii. Relaxation of Time for Filing Charge Related Forms: The MCA has, by way of a Circular dated June 30, 2021, relaxed the time period further and continued to condone the delay for filing of Forms CHG-1 and CHG-9 (‘Forms’) in the following scenarios: (a) where the date of creation / modification of charge is before April 1, 2021 but the timeline for filing such Form had not expired as on April 1, 2021, then, the period between April 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021 will not be reckoned for the purpose of counting the number of days for filing such form; and (b) where the date of creation / modification of charge falls between April 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021, then the period beginning from the date of creation / modification till July 31, 2021, will not be reckoned for the purpose of counting the number of days. If such Form is not filed within such period, the first day after the creation / modification of charge will be reckoned as August 1, 2021, for the purpose of counting the number of days within which such Form is required to be filed. The above relaxations will not apply in case the Forms have been filed before May 3, 2021.

iii. Relaxation of Gap between Two Consecutive Board Meetings under Section 173 of Companies Act: The MCA has, by way of a Circular dated May 3, 2021, relaxed the maximum gap of 120 days allowed between two consecutive board meetings under the Companies Act by giving a further extension of 60 days for the first 2 quarters of financial year 2021-22 i.e., April to June 2021 and July to September 2021. Accordingly, the gap between 2 board meetings may extend to 180 days during the above mentioned quarters without resulting in a violation of the relevant provisions of the Companies Act.

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