Amendment of Companies Act to promote ease of doing business

The Lok Sabha passed the Companies Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which decriminalises a number of technical and filing-related corporate offences. It also allows direct listing of Indian companies on foreign stock exchanges and revokes the criminal provisions added to the Companies Act for violations of provisions of corporate social responsibility rules.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

The Bill is set to replace an Ordinance that has already brought these changes into effect.

48 sections of the Companies Act, 2013 will be amended to decriminalise various offences. There will, however, be no relaxation for serious offences, including fraud, deceit and those that cause injury to public.

Ms Sitharaman informed that there will also be a new chapter on producer organisation which will be helpful for farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in the country.

17 provisions in the Companies Act, 2013, have also been amended which paves way for easy and user friendly fulfilment of statutory compliances.