Institute of Company Secretary of India
MCA August: 2020
Shri Rajesh Verma, IAS Secretary
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Government of India
Shastri Bhawan
Dr Rajedendra Prasad Road
New Delhi -110001
Subject: Request for extension for holding Annual General Meeting due to COVID-19
Respected Sir,
This is further to our letter dated August 11, 2020 wherein a request has been made to extend the date for holding Annual General Meetings (AGM).
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) vide its circular dated 17th August, 2020 has issued clarification on extension of AGM, wherein it has been stated that the companies which are unable to hold their AGM for the financial year ended on 31′ March, 2020 ought to file their applications in Form GNL -1 for seeking extension of time in holding of AGM with the concerned Registrar of Companies on or before 29′h September, 2020.
We once again wish to bring to your kind notice the challenges being faced by corporate due to Corona virus pandemic. For the purpose of convening the AGM, audited financial statements is a pre-requisite and is required to be circulated alongwith the Notice of AGM. Due to current situation, there remains a practical difficulty in completing the Audit formalities as physical verification remains a challenge for the professionals. Majority of the offices are not fully functional and are not working with their full staff strength due to non-availability of the public transport In many places, the authorities have announced strict lockdown guidelines, social distancing norms and notified containment zones, due to which the professionals are not in a position to reach offices and facing difficulty in complying various compliances under the Companies Act, 2013.
The due dates of Audit & Income Tax filings have been extended till November 2020. The MCA vide circular no. 18/2020 dated 21′ April, 2020, has given extension of time for holding AGM to those companies whose, whose Financial Year ended on 31st December, 2019. They have been given time till 30th September 2020 and the same will not be treated as non-compliance Further, the MCA has vide General Circular no 20/2020 dated May 5, 2020, has allowed the companies to conduct AGM through Video Conferencing or other Audio Visual means during the calendar year 2020 In the present situation, it may not possible for every company to apply for the extension of Annual General Meeting.
In view of the above, it is once again requested that a general extension for the date of conducting AGMs may be allowed so as to provide relief to all the companies and stakeholders The MCA may also consider filing of e-Form GNL -1 for seeking extension of time in holding of AGM through STP mode, so as to speed up the approvals.
We hope that the above submissions which are because of the difficulties and hardship faced by the stakeholders due to the pandemic COVID 19 would be considered favourably.
We shall be pleased to provide any further information in this regard on hearing from your goodself.
Thanking You,
Yours faithfully,
(CS Asish Mohan)
Secretary
