Considering the present situation around COVID-19 the stakeholders have indicated various difficulties relating to transfer of money remaining unpaid or unclaimed for a period of seven years. In view of the issues, the MCA has directed the stakeholders towards the circular number 11/2020 dated March 24, 2020 and circular number 12/2020 dated March 30, 2020 granting relaxation on delayed filing without payment of additional fees till September 30, 2020 and the same also includes the relaxations applicable to filing of various IEPF eForms viz. IEPF-1, IEPF-1A, IEPF-2, IEPF-3, IEPF-4, IEPF-5 and IEPF-7. Therefore, the MCA has asked the stakeholders to plan other concomitant actions accordingly. Click to access the circular.

Further to the clarification issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on contributions to PM CARES fund as eligible CSR activity under item number viii of Schedule VII of Companies Act, 2013 the MCA has received several representations from various stakeholders seeking clarification on eligibility of CSR expenditure related to COVID-19 activities. As a consolidated response to all the representations, the MCA has released a set of FAQ’s along with clarifications for better understanding of the stakeholders on CSR expenditure related to COVID-19 activities. Whether contribution made to ‘PM CARES Fund’ shall qualify as CSR expenditure? MCA: Contribution made to ‘PM CARES Fund’ shall qualify as CSR expenditure under item no (viii) of Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 and it has been further clarified vide office memorandum F. No. CSR-05/1/2020-CSR-MCA dated 28th March, 2020. Whether contribution made to ‘Chief Minister’s Relief Funds’ or ‘State Relief Fund f...

In wake of the current nationwide lockdown of 21 days as directed by Government of India SEBI has considered the requirement to extend the timelines for processing of various investor requests pertaining to physical securities and compliance and disclosures to be made under SEBI Regulations and various SEBI circulars. In the event of further extension in the lockdown period as directed by Government of India / State Governments, additional relaxation in prescribed timelines for equal number of extended days in lock down is also being given to intermediaries / market participants for the following matters: Processing of Remat Requests; Processing of Transmission Requests; Processing of request for Issue of Duplicate Share Certificates; Processing of Requests for Name Deletion/ Name Change/Transposition/ Pending Share Transfers (Re-lodgement cases in the  case of share transfers); Processing of Requests for Consolidation / Split / Replacement of Share Certificate...

In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, and to facilitate the fight to contain its spread, the Government has issued a Notification No. 20/2020-Customs dated April 9, 2020 , exempting the following medical devices from all customs duty and health cess: COVID-19 test kits; Face masks and surgical masks; Personal Protection Equipment (PPE); Artificial respiration or other therapeutic respiration apparatus (i.e. ventilators); and Inputs required in manufacturing such products provided that importer follows the procedure set out in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, 2017.  This exemption will remain effective until 30 September 2020.

In view of the difficulties faced by the stakeholders on account of the threat posed by COVID-19, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“ MCA ”) issued a  clarification   on 08 April 2020 relating to passing of ordinary and special resolutions at the companies general meetings (“ Circular ”). The following clarifications have been issued in this regard, to ease the process of convening general meetings and the manner in which the members may cast their votes in such general meeting(s) held on or before 30 June 2020. Procedure for convening a General Meeting All decisions of urgent nature requiring members approval (except the items of ordinary business or a business where any person has a right to be heard) shall be taken through postal ballot/e-voting in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (“ Act” ) and rules made thereunder, without holding a general meeting, which requires physical presence of the members at a common venue. However, wher...

In a petition filed before it as a public interest litigation seeking to make testing for COVID-19 free of cost, the Supreme Court on 8 th April 2020 issued interim directions and ordered that: 1.           The tests relating to COVID-19 whether in approved government laboratories or approved private laboratories shall be free of cost and the government shall issue necessary direction in this regard immediately. 2.       The tests relating to COVID-19 must be carried out in National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited labs or any agencies approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The petition was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction to be issued to the government of India providing for free testing facilities of COVID-19, both by private laboratories and government laboratories. It further sought that a...

In wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has notified various amendments in the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (“ FTP ”) and in the Handbook of Procedure, providing one more year’s extension to exporters (i.e. till March 31, 2021) to undertake various compliances and to meet conditions under various export schemes. Some key changes are summarized below: 1.   Service categories eligible for benefits granted under the Service Exports from India Scheme (“ SEIS ”) and the rates of rewards on such services rendered during the period April 01, 2019 to March 31, 2020 will be notified separately. For services rendered with effect from April 01, 2020, decision on continuation of SEIS is pending and will be notified separately. The last date of filing an application for obtaining Scrips under SEIS for financial year 2018-19 is extended till December 31, 2020. 2.    The last date of filing of an application for obtaining Duty Credit Scrips (“ Scrips ”) under M...