1. The Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Second Amendment Rules, 2016.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 7th December 2016 amended the Companies ( Registration Offices and Rules), 2014 whereby the Form AOC-4 ( Filing of Balance Sheet) can be certified by the Chartered Accountant or the Company Secretary or as the case may be by the Cost Accountant, in whole- time practice.
Filing Fees for Allotment of a Director’s Identification Number (DIN) is Rs. 500/- and for surrender of DIN is Rs. 1,000/-
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/CompaniesRegistrationOffices2ndamdRules_08112016.pdf
2. Clarification regarding due date of transfer of shares to IEPF Authority
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 7th December 2016 has issued clarification regarding the due date of transfer of shares to Investor Education & Protection Fund (IEPF) informing that the simplification of transfer process and extension of due date for the transfer are under consideration and are likely to be revised.
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Gcircular15_08122016.pdf
3. Commencement of Certain Sections of Companies Act 2013 Notification :
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 7th December 2016 notified that the following sections of the Companies Act 2013, as listed in the table, shall come into force with effect from 15th December 2016:
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/commencementnotif_08122016.pdf
4. Companies (Removal of Difficulties) Fourth Order, 2016.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Order No 3676 (E ) dated 7th December 2016 issued the Companies (Removal of Difficulties) Fourth Order, 2016. It has inserted the following provisos to after the proviso to section 434(1)(c ) pertaining to Transfer of certain proceedings:
“Provided further that only such proceedings relating to cases other than winding-up, for which orders for allowing or otherwise of the proceedings are not reserved by the High Courts shall be transferred to the Tribunal: Provided further that –
(i) all proceedings under the Companies Act, 1956 other than the cases relating to winding up of companies that are reserved for orders for allowing or otherwise such proceedings; or
(ii) the proceedings relating to winding up of companies which have not been transferred from the High Courts; shall be dealt with in accordance with provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 and the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959”
The full notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/CompaniesROD_08122016.pdf
5. Companies (Transfer of Pending Proceedings) Rules, 2016.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 7th December 2016 under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 434 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) read with sub-section (1) of section 239 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (31 of 2016) issued the Companies (Transfer of Pending Proceedings) Rules, 2016.
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/CompaniesTransferofPending_08122016.pdf
6. Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 :
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 14th December 2016 issued the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016 which have come into force with effect from 15th December, 2016.
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/compromisesrules2016_15122016.pdf
7. National Company Law Tribunal (Procedure for Reduction of Share Capital of a Company ) Rules 2016 :
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 15th December 2016 notified the rules for National Company Law Tribunal (Procedure for Reduction of Share Capital of a Company) u/s. 66 of the Companies Act, 2013
The full Notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/NCLTRules2016.pdf
8. National Company Law Tribunal (Amendment) Rules, 2016.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 20th December 2016 issued the National Company Law Tribunal (Amendment) Rules, 2016.
The full notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/NCLT(Amendment)Rules_21122016.pdf
9. Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide Notification dated 26th December 2016 issued the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016. The rules provide that
i. the Registrar of Companies may suo moto remove the name of a company from the register of companies in terms of section 248(1) of Companies Act 2013 or
ii. an application for removal of name of the company u/s. 248 (2) of Companies Act 2013 shall be made in Form STK-2 for a fee of Rs. 5,000/-
Every application shall accompany a no objection certificate from concerned Regulatory Authority, if any and the application is to be in Form STK 2. Attachments to the Form are
a. indemnity bond duly notarised by every director in Form STK 3;
b. a statement of accounts containing assets and liabilities of the company made up to a day, not more than thirty days before the date of application and certified by a Chartered Accountant;
c. An affidavit in Form STK 4 by every director of the company;
d. a copy of the special resolution duly certified by each of the directors of the company or consent of seventy five per cent of the members of the company in terms of paid up share capital as on the date of application;
e. a statement regarding pending litigations, if any, involving the company.
Any application or pending proceeding for striking off or Form-FTE filed with the Registrar of Companies prior to the commencement of these rules but not disposed of by such authority for want of any information or document shall, on its submission, to the satisfaction of the authority, be disposed of in accordance with the rules made under the Companies Act, 1956.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has clarified vide General Circular 16/2016 dated 26th December 2016 that the Form STK-2 would be available soon.
The full notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Rules_28122016.pdf
10. The Companies (incorporation) Fifth Amendment Rules 2016
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has vide its Notification dated 29th December 2016 issued The Companies (incorporation) Fifth Amendment Rules 2016 which have come into effect on 1st January 2017. The application for incorporation of a Company is required to be made in Form INC-32 (SPICe) alongwith e-Memorandum of Association in Form INC-33 and e-Articles of association in Form INC-34. In case of incorporation of a section 8 Company (Companies with Charitable Objects) the Form INC-32 (SPICe) alongwith e-Memorandum of Association in Form INC-13 and e- Articles of association in Form INC-31.
The eform INC-2 has now been removed and Form INC-7 is only for incorporation of Companies under Part 1 and Companies with more than 7 subscribers.
Full notification can be accessed at http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/5th_Amendment_Rules_29122016.pdf.
