The Companies Amendment Bill, 2020
(Bill No. 88 of 2020 presented on March 17, 2020)
The government has introduced the Companies Amendment Bill, 2020 in Lok Sabha on March 17, 2020 which further amends the Companies Act, 2013 and shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette.
The said Bill proposes changes in 66 sections of the Companies Act, 2013 which relate to omission of 7 compoundable offences, decrease in penalties for 6 offences, re-categorisation of 23 offences and removal of imprisonment in 11 provisions.
The following are the highlights of the Companies Amendment Bill, 2020:
- To focus on decriminalising certain offences under the Companies Act, 2013.
- To exempt any class of persons from complying with the requirements of section 89 relating to declaration of beneficial interest in shares.
- To reduce timelines of rights issue, to speed up the process of rights issue under section 62 of Companies Act, 2013.
- To extend exemptions to certain classes of non-banking financial companies and housing finance companies from filing certain resolutions under section 117 of Companies Act, 2013.
- To further amend provisions relating to Corporate Social Responsibility.
- To introduce new section i.e. section 129 A for specified classes of unlisted companies to prepare and file their periodical financial results.
Further, the following table provides the difference of previous and proposed amendments: Readmore..