Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday chaired a meeting to review the regional directorates and registrar of companies in New Delhi, an official statement said. The review meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), along with all the senior officers of MCA and all the subordinate offices under the MCA.

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Key Areas of Discussion

During the meeting, the statement added that, detailed interactions and discussions were held with Registrar of Companies (ROCs) and Regional Directorates (RDs) on issues of processing of forms, fast track mergers, delivery of services like incorporation /voluntary exit of Companies/LLPs through the Central Facilities, e-governance, harmonisation of forms, matters related to adjudication, inquiries, inspection and investigation (3Is) manuals, prosecution, appeals against adjudication orders, compounding of violations etc.

The MCA Secretary informed the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister that the MCA has standardised its manuals on enforcement, and further process and rule simplification for transparent and timely delivery of services is already underway, it said.

FM's Directives for a Futuristic MCA

During the review meeting, the Union Finance Minister directed MCA that a live dashboard may be built to ensure that more transparency is brought to the systems in MCA, the statement added.

By 2047, Sitharaman said, India needs to be a developed country as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "This vision can only be realised if timely modernisation of the systems and processes take place."

The Union Finance Minister said that today is the era of governance, and therefore MCA's driving principle should be to make governance easy and transparent and with focus on facilitation. "MCA must strive to be futuristic to be able to serve stakeholders in a time-bound manner."

Emphasis on Reforms and Corporate Governance

Sitharaman stated that the MCA has taken out frequent and required amendments in the Act and Rules to keep up with changing times; the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board is one such example of a reform-driven law. "This is done to ensure that the systems are responsive to the needs of today's India."

It noted that Sitharaman credited Indian corporate governance for gaining the trust of citizens by providing transparent financial information.

The Union Finance Minister emphasised the importance of MCA's role in guiding and regulating companies to ensure their governance structures are well-managed, it said.

Path Forward for Enhanced EODB

As a way forward, the Union Finance Minister exhorted the MCA officials to find effective ways to convey legal requirements to stakeholders and also suggested holding frequent in-house discussions to suggest measures for enhancing EODB, the statement further stated. (ANI)