GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 102
ANSWERED ON MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022/
ASHADHA 27, 1944 (SAKA)
SOCIAL AUDIT OF CSR SPENDING
QUESTION
102. SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA:
SHRIMATI GODDETI MADHAVI:
Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is considering social audit of Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) spending of companies;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Ministry has laid down any standards in this regard;
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(e) whether the Government is planning to make it mandatory for all companies by making required amendments in the Companies Act; and
(f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
[RAO INDERJIT SINGH]
(a) to (d): No, Sir. Under the current legal framework, there is no provision of social audit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure made by the companies. However, companies are required to file details of CSR activities annually in the MCA21 registry. The CSR disclosures made by the companies in MCA21 are captured in a user friendly manner and put in the National CSR Data Portal which is in public domain, www.csr.gov.in. In addition, companies are required to provide additional information regarding CSR expenditure in their Profit & Loss Account and the same is required to be audited by the statutory auditors of the company. Further, Ministry has notified the Companies (Auditor’s Report) Order, 2020, (“CARO, 2020”) applicable from FY 2021-22 which requires auditors to state details of any unspent CSR amount. The Board of the company is also required to disclose the CSR Policy in its Board report. Thus, the corporate governance framework along with the existing legal provisions such as mandatory disclosures, accountability of the CSR Committee and the Board, provisions for statutory audit of accounts of the company etc. provide adequate mechanisms for monitoring the CSR activities implemented by the companies.
(e) & (f): No such proposal is under consideration.
*******
