The Lok Sabha on Friday took up a bill which seeks to tighten corporate social responsibility compliance and reduce the load of cases on the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Piloting the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the bill seeks to replace the ordinance and that, along with certain other amendments, it is being brought in to ‘ensure more accountability and better enforcement to strengthen the corporate governance norms and compliance management in corporate sector’.
The legislation amends the Companies Act, 2013, she said.
Ms Sitharaman said, ‘A bill to replace the first ordinance was passed in Lok Sabha in January 2019 but could not get through in Rajya Sabha. Hence the second ordinance was promulgated in February. This bill has been brought to replace the second ordinance. We are not bringing the bill in haste.’
The Minister said ambiguous areas were leading to different interpretations, adding that the proposed legislation is more driven by stakeholders and helps to improve the ease of doing business in the country.
A total 43 amendments were made in the Companies Act, 2013 — 31 in the the Ordinance and 12 new ones were added.
