On May 3, 2021, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued a notification whereby the rules in respect of number of board meetings and filing of forms have been relaxed considering the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
Relaxation regarding the number of meeting for the Board of Directors
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has extended the time between four board meetings required to be held in a year by 60 days from 120 days to up to 180 days. Section 173 of the Companies Act, 2013 states the provisions regarding a number of board meetings, wherein every company was required to hold at least four meetings for its Board of Directors every year and the gap between two meetings could not exceed 120 days. MCA has increased the permissible gap between two meetings consecutively from 120 days to 180 days for the 1st quarter (April 2021-June, 2021) and the 2nd quarter (July 2021- September 2021).
Relaxation regarding levy of additional fees in the filing of certain forms under Company Law
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has also waived the fees for delay, if any, in filing of forms that are due during the period of April 2021- May 2021, up to July 2021. The Ministry has granted extra time without additional fee till the end of July for filing statutory forms. In cases where due date had expired before April 1, extra time has been granted till end of May.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has put this story together.