The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) in India recently announced two important updates for companies. These updates are:
1. Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Amendment Rules, 2024:
This notification, published on February 15, 2024, likely introduces changes to existing regulations regarding company registration offices and associated fees. These changes may impact various aspects of company registration and filings, so it’s crucial for businesses to stay informed.
he Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide Notification No. G.S.R. 107(E) dated February 15, 2024 notified the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Amendment Rules, 2024, effective from February 16, 2024. A new rule, 10A, is added to the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, establishing a Central Processing Center. This Center, under section 396 of the Companies Act, 2013, is tasked with examining all applications, e-Forms, or documents for approval or registration by the Registrar.
The Registrar at the Central Processing Center must make decisions within 30 days of filing, excluding cases requiring approval from higher authorities. This rule grants the Central Processing Center jurisdiction over various filings, including resolutions, share capital alterations, name change applications, and conversions of company types.
Multiple filings at once will be handled collectively by the Center, ensuring uniformity in processing. However, the rule clarifies that it does not grant the Center authority under section 399 of the Companies Act, leaving the Registrar with territorial jurisdiction to exercise those powers. This amendment aims to streamline the registration process and centralize decision-making for specified filings across India.
What to do:
- To understand the specific changes and their implications on your company, it’s essential to review the official notification available on the MCA website: https://www.mca.gov.in/content/mca/global/en/home.html.
- Consider consulting with a professional, such as a company secretary or legal advisor, to understand the impact of these amendments on your specific situation and ensure compliance.
2. Circular on Change Request Form (CRF) Deployment and Usage on MCA-21 Portal:
The MCA issued General Circular No. 02/2024 dated February 19, 2024 regarding the deployment and usage of the Change Request Form (CRF) on MCA-21.
Stakeholders are informed that Change Request Form (CRF) has been made available on V3 portal for the convenience of users of MCA-21 services. This web-based Form is to be used only under exceptional circumstances, for making a request to Registrar of Companies (RoCs), for the purposes which cannot be catered through any existing form or services or functionality available either at Front Office level (users of MCA-21 services) or Back Office level (RoCs). It is not a substitute to any reporting, application and registry requirements as per Companies Act, 2013, and LLP Act, 2008, and for such purposes the Form shall not be entertained and requests through this form are liable to be summarily rejected. This Form should also not be used as a substitute for any approval related and registration related queries for which existing tickets and help desk facilities must be used.
This Form primarily is intended to be used for purposes like Master Data correction and to comply with certain directions of Courts/Tribunals, which ordinarily cannot be complied with through existing functionality of forms or services on MCA-21 system.
The Form should be processed by RoCs within 03 days of its filing, after which it should be forwarded to Joint Director (e-governance cell), who shall process and decide the matter within a maximum time of 07 days.
Issued on February 19, 2024, this circular informs stakeholders about the introduction of a new Change Request Form (CRF) on the MCA-21 portal. This form serves as a last resort option for companies to request modifications from the Registrar of Companies (RoCs) in specific scenarios.
Key points about the CRF:
- Use for exceptional circumstances only: The CRF is intended for rare situations where the change required is not covered by existing forms or functionalities available on the MCA-21 portal. Companies should exhaust all other options before resorting to the CRF.
- Refer to the official circular for detailed information: This circular provides crucial details on using the CRF, including instructions on accessing the form, the type of information required, and the process for submitting it. You can access the circular here: https://www.mca.gov.in/MinistryV2/companyformsdownload.html
