MCA imposes penalty for attaching wrong attachments with Form AoC-4

Penalty for Non- Compliance with the Provisions of Rule 8(3) of Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014

The Registrar of Companies for NCT of Delhi & Haryana has imposed a penalty on the signatory and professional who certified an e-form AOC-4 that contained attachments related to another company, which violates Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. The penalty was imposed under Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013 for a defect in the e-form. A show cause notice was issued to Join Pack Machines Private Limited and the signatories of the e-form for non-compliance with Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 r/w Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013, due to all the attachments being related to Join Pack (India) Private Limited.

The relevant Section and Rule under the Act as under:

Rule 8 (3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014

The authorised signatory and the professional, if any, who certify e-form shall be responsible for the correctness of the contents of e-form and correctness of the enclosures attached with the electronic form.

Section 450 OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013 (Punishment where no specific penalty or punishment is provided)

If a company or any officer of a company or any other person contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, or any condition, limitation or restriction subject to which any approval, sanction, consent, confirmation, recognition, direction or exemption in relation to any matter has been accorded, given or granted, and for which no penalty or punishment is provided elsewhere in this Act, the company and every officer of the company who is in default or such other person shall be liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees, and in case of continuing contravention, with a further penalty of one thousand rupees for each day after the first during which the contravention continues, subject to a maximum of two lakh rupees in case of a company and fifty thousand rupees in case of an officer who is in default or any other person.

As a result, the Registrar of Companies for NCT of Delhi & Haryana levied a penalty of Rs. 10,000/- on both the signatory and the practicing professional who certified the e-form AOC-4, citing a defect in the form. This penalty was imposed under Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013, in accordance with Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS,
OFFICE OF REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES,
NCT OF DELHI & HARYANA
4TH FLOOR, IFCI TOWER, 61, NEHRU PLACE,
NEW DELHI -110019

ORDER OF PENALTY PURSUANT TO RULE 8(3) OF THE COMPANIES (REGISTRATION OFFICES AND FEES) RULES, 2014 IN THE MATTER OF JOIN PACK MACHINES PRIVATE LIMITED (U29220DL2008PTC182240)

1. Appointment of Adjudicating Officer: –

Ministry of Corporate Affairs vide its Gazette Notification No. A-42011/112/2014-Ad.I1, dated 24.03.2015 appointed Registrar of Companies, NCT of Delhi & Haryana as Adjudicating Officer in exercise of the powers conferred by section 454(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 (hereinafter known as Act) r/w Companies (Adjudication of Penalties) Rules, 2014 for adjudging penalties under the provisions of this Act.

2. Company: –

Whereas the company viz. JOIN PACK MACHINES PRIVATE LIMITED (herein after known as ‘company’) is a registered company with this office under the provisions of section 7 of the Companies Act, 2013 having its registered office as per MCA21 Registered address at 19/21, SHAKTI NAGAR, NEW DELHI, Delhi,110007, India. The financial & other details of the subject company for immediately preceding F.Y. as available on MCA-21 portal is stated as under:

3. Facts about the Case: –

i. This office is in receipt of application on 17.03.2023 from the company regarding adjudication of penalties for defect in filing eform AOC-4 vide SRN T75618215 dated 01.02.2022 filed for the Financial Year 2020-21. In this regard it is observed that all the attachments attached with the e-form (SRN T75618215) pertain to another company namely Join Pack (India) Private Limited.

ii. On the examination of the document /information submitted to the office, it is observed that Sh. Sanjeev Singh Arora (authorised signatory/Director) and CA Rohit Varshney (M. No 410732) certifying professional had filed said e form AOC-4 with wrong attachment. Therefore, a default /non-compliance of the provision of Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 r/w Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013 has been made.

iii. Therefore, a show cause notice was issued on 21.04.2023 to company and signatories of e-form AOC-4. In response, company has submitted a reply vide email dated 25.04.2023 through its Authorised Representative wherein it has been admitted the above mentioned default and has accordingly requested to Adjudicate the matter.

4. The relevant Section and Rule under the Act as under:

Rules8 (3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014

> The authorised signatory and the professional, if any, who certify e-form shall be responsible for the correctness of the contents of e-form and correctness of the enclosures attached with the electronic form.

Section 450 OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013 (Punishment where no specific penalty or punishment is provided)

If a company or any officer of a company or any other person contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, or any condition, limitation or restriction subject to which any approval, sanction, consent, confirmation, recognition, direction or exemption in relation to any matter has been accorded, given or granted, and for which no penalty or punishment is provided elsewhere in this Act, the company and every officer of the company who is in default or such other person shall be liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees, and in case of continuing contravention, with a further penalty of one thousand rupees for each day after the first during which the contravention continues, subject to a maximum of two lakh rupees in case of a company and fifty thousand rupees in case of an officer who is in default or any other person.

5. Adjudication of penalty: –

i. The subject company does not get covered under the purview of small company as defined u/s 2(85) of the Act. Hence, the benefit of section 446B would not be applicable on the company.

ii. With respect to the facts of the case and submissions made, it is noted that Sh. Sanjeev Singh Arora and Sh. CA Rohit Varshney had filed e-form AOC-4 vide SRN T75618215 dated 01.02.2022 with incorrect attachments. Pursuant to Rule 8 of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 r/w Section 450 of the Act, signatories of said e form are liable for correctness of the content of e-form AOC-4 and enclosures attached therewith. Accordingly, signatories are liable for penalty.

iii. Now in exercise of the powers conferred on the undersigned vide Notification dated 24th March, 2015 and having considered the reply submitted on 03.03.2023 in response to the notice issued vide letter dated 02.02.2023, hereby impose the penalty on the signatory for defect in e-form AOC-4 pursuant to Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 r/w Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013:

6. Order:

a. Names of parties as mentioned in the table above are hereby directed to pay the penalty amount as per column no. ‘C’ therein. In case of parties other than company, such amount is required to be paid out of their own funds.

b. The said amount of penalty shall be paid through online by using the website mca.gov.in (Misc. head) in favor of “Pay & Accounts Officer, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, New Delhi, within 90 days of receipt of this order, and intimate this office with proof of penalty paid.

c. Appeal against this order may be filed with the Regional Director (NR), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, B-2 Wing, 2nd Floor, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003 within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of this order, in Form ADJ [available on Ministry website www.mca.gov.in] setting forth the grounds of appeal and shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the order. [Section 454(5) & 454(6) of the Act read with Companies (Adjudicating of Penalties) Rules, 2014].

d. Your attention is also invited to section 454(8) of the Act in the event of non-compliance of this order.

Place: New Delhi.

(Pranay Chaturvedi, ICLS)
(Adjudicating Officer)
Registrar of Companies,
NCT of Delhi & Haryana

No. ROC/D/Adj/Order/Join Pack Machine/1029-1032