Amendments issued by MCA, RBI, SEBI and others
Amendments issued by MCA
Relaxations in paying additional fees in case of delay in filing Form 8 (the Statement of Account and Solvency) by Limited Liability Partnerships upto 30th December, 2021:
MCA issued a Circular, in which MCA announced relaxation on additional fees in filing Form 8 by LLP upto 30th December 2021. Due to the difficulty faced by LLPs as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, MCA has received a request for an extension of the deadline for completing the Statement of Account and Solvency without paying additional expenses. The MCA has decided to allow LLPs to file Form 8 (the Statement of Account and Solvency) for the Financial Year 2020-2021 without paying additional fees until December 30, 2021.
To read more: https://mca.gov.in/bin/dms/getdocument?mds=D6JwDgXJxJkSj9vnkrkNZw%253D%253D&type=open
Extension of last date of filing of Cost Audit Report to the Board of Directors under Rule 6(5) of the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014-regulations:
In continuation of this Ministry’s General circular No. 15/2021 dated 27.09.2021, in view of disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic, it has been decided to substitute the words and figures “31st October ,2021” with the word and figures and figures “30th November,2021” in the said General Circular.
To read more: https://www.mca.gov.in/bin/dms/getdocument?mds=A5nNeF4Hy8RsmbJKnnKERw%253D%253D&type=open
Relaxation on levy of additional fees in filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4, AOC-4 XBRL AOC-4 Non-XBRL and MGT-7/MGT-7A for the financial year ended on 31.03.2021 under the Companies Act, 2013:
Keeping in view of various requests received from stakeholders regarding relaxation on levy of additional fees for annual financial statement filings required to be done for the financial year ended on 31.03.2021, it has been decided that no additional fees shall be levied upto31.12.2021 for the filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4XBRL, AOC-4Non_ XBRL and MGT-7/MOT-7A in respect of the financial year ended on 31.03.2021. During the said period, only normal fees shall be payable for the filing of the aforementioned e-forms.
To read more: https://www.mca.gov.in/bin/dms/getdocument?mds=5qMjdDesXhBDFgDSplqkmA%253D%253D&type=open
Amendments issued by SEBI
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure requirements) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2021:
SEBI has notified the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2021 which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette i.e 26-10-2021. The amendment is brought under Regulation 6(3) which deals with eligibility requirements for an initial public offer. The promoters who have a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore can have superior voting rights in their companies, raising it from the current Rs 500 crore.
To read more: https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/230722.pdf
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Depositories and Participants) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2021:
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 read with Section 25 of the Depositories Act, 1996, the Securities and Exchange Board of India hereby makes the following regulations to further amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Depositories and Participants) Regulations, 2018,through this amendment, it has been notified that the issuer shall submit their audit report on a quarterly basis, to the concerned stock exchanges can now also be audited by a practicing Cost Accountant for the purposes of reconciliation of the total issued capital, listed capital and capital held by depositories in dematerialized form, the details of changes in share capital during the quarter and the in-principle approval obtained by the issuer from all the stock exchanges where it is listed in respect of such further issued capital.
To read more: https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/230723.pdf
Amendment to SEBI Circular Pertaining to Investor Protection Fund (IPF)/Investor Service Fund (ISF) and its related matters:
In order to align with the practices in the securities market, based on the internal deliberations/discussions, and the feedback received from the Stock Exchanges, the SEBI has decided to modify the clause pertaining to the determination of legitimate claims which shall be effective from January 01, 2022. The Stock Exchanges shall ensure that once a member has been declared defaulter, the claim(s) shall be placed before the Member Core Settlement Guarantee Fund Committee (MCSGFC, the erstwhile Defaulters’ Committee) for sanction and ratification.
Amendments issued by RBI
Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021:
In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (aa) and (ab) of sub-section (2) of section 46 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, which shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette i.e 12-10-2021. The Government has permitted 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route in the telecom services sector subject to certain conditions that all telecom services including Telecom Infrastructure Providers Category-I), Other Service Providers and such other services as may be permitted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
To read more: https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/230391.pdf
Scale Based Regulation (SBR): A Revised Regulatory Framework for NBFCs:
The Reserve Bank of India has notified the revised Scale Based Regulatory Framework for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) which shall be effective from 1st October 2022. As the SBR framework encompasses different facets of regulation of NBFCs covering capital requirements, governance standards, prudential regulation, etc., it has been decided to first issue an integrated regulatory framework for NBFCs under SBR providing a holistic view of the SBR structure, set of fresh regulations being introduced and respective timelines.
To read more: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12179&Mode=0
Miscellaneous Amendments
Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 for displaying information provided by sellers to marketplace e-commerce platforms:
Every marketplace e-commerce entity is required to provide in a clear and accessible manner, displayed prominently to its users at the appropriate place on its platform, all information provided to it by sellers including the name and contact numbers, and designation of the grievance officer for consumer grievance redressal or for reporting any other matter. Industry associations are also requested to give wide publicity to these compliances to ensure adequate redressal mechanism is accessible to consumers while purchasing goods or services using e-commerce.
To read more: https://consumeraffairs.nic.in/sites/default/files/file-uploads/latestnews/Advisory%20CCPA.pdf