New Delhi: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the government has relaxed the time period for corporates to submit forms related to creation or modification of charges.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has now decided to condone the delay in filing of the forms under the companies law.
A scheme for relaxation of time for filing forms related to creation or modification of charges under the Companies Act, 2013, has been introduced following representations seeking relaxation in timelines, according to a circular issued on Wednesday.
Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, partner at Nangia Andersen LLP, said a period of seven months from March 1 to September 30 has been relinquished by the ministry for computing the deadline of 30 days for filing the forms.
This would save domestic companies from an extra burden of filing for condonation of delay, he added.
Economic activities have been significantly disrupted due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Many companies are taking the debt route to raise funds amid the challenges due to the pandemic.
“Creation of charge is crucial to such debts but registering such charges with the RoC (Registrar of Companies) by complying with deadlines falling during the haphazard period of lockdown posed a great challenge,” Jhunjhunwala said.
Rajesh Thakkar, partner and leader/ transaction tax (tax and regulatory services) at consultancy BDO India, said that while the scheme is providing relief for delayed filing in respect of intimation for creation or modification of charge, no such relief is provided in respect of satisfaction of charge.
“The government may reconsider providing a relief on this aspect as well,” he added.
Under the Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020 — that was announced in March — the benefit of waiver of additional fees was not extended to the charge-related documents, the circular said.
