Removal of company names: e Form STK unavailable on portal, deployment pending and stakeholders notified of delay
The removal provisions of the Companies Act have been commenced and relevant rules notified to permit applications to the Registrar for striking off company names. The prescribed electronic filing medium, e Form STK 2, required for such applications is currently under development and not yet available on the MCA-21 portal; deployment is pending and stakeholders are asked to bear the inconvenience.

Transfer of shares to investor protection fund: simplification and transfer-date extension under consideration; rules to be revised.
Clarification records stakeholder requests for simplification of the share-transfer process and extension of the deadline for transfer of shares to the Investor Education and Protection Fund under the 2016 Rules, states these matters are under consideration, and indicates the Rules are likely to be revised and will be notified in due course.

Relaxation of filing fees extends compliance deadline for Jammu and Kashmir companies until end of December.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs directed waiver of additional fees for companies with registered offices in Jammu and Kashmir for filings of e-Form MGT-7 and e-Forms AOC-4, AOC (CFS) and AOC-4 XBRL, allowing submission without additional fee up to the end of December due to civil disturbances, continuing relief from an earlier circular and issued with competent authority approval.

Online generation of IEPF challans mandatory; file Form IEPF I with SRN or offline challans will be rejected after deadline.
Companies remitting amounts to the Investor Education & Protection Fund must generate challans online only via the MCA21 portal and file Form IEPF I citing the SRN of the online challan; challans not generated on the MCA21 portal will not be accepted after the specified cutoff, and companies and nodal officers must follow the online generation and SRN based filing procedure for transfers to the Fund.

Extension of filing deadline for AOC 4 and MGT 7: permitted without additional fees until the prescribed extended date.
The Ministry directed that financial statements and annual returns filed through e forms AOC 4, AOC 4 (XBRL), AOC 4 (CFS) and MGT 7 may be submitted without payment of additional fee until 29 November 2016, extending earlier relief in response to stakeholder requests.

Steering Committee constitution for National CSR Award established to oversee implementation, selection committee, verification and jury processes.
Constitution of a Steering Committee chaired by the Secretary, MCA, comprising senior MCA officers, Department of Public Enterprises representation, IICA, industry chamber and professional body representatives, with the IICA nodal officer as Member Convener, to oversee establishment and execution of the National CSR Award. Its Terms of Reference include approving the Implementation Strategy and Memorandum of Understanding, constituting the Selection Committee and its terms, approving external agencies for field verification, recommending a Grand Jury panel and terms, and receiving the final awardee list.

Relaxation of additional fees permits late filing of Form IEPF 1 without surcharge if filed within the extended deadline.
Companies unable to file the earlier Form I INV during MCA21 deployment may instead submit the new Form IEPF I, which replaces Form I INV under the IEPF (AATR) Rules, 2016. As a one time measure, companies whose filing due dates fell within the portal unavailability period may file Form IEPF I without additional fees provided they file by the prescribed extended deadline.

Rupee bond issuance to overseas investors regulated under the ECB framework, exempting specified Companies Act provisions.
Issuance of rupee denominated bonds exclusively to persons resident outside India is regulated under the external commercial borrowing framework and sectoral regulations; accordingly, the provisions of Chapter III of the Companies Act, 2013 and rule 18 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debenture) Rules, 2014 do not apply to such issuances unless otherwise provided in RBI circulars, directions or regulations, and necessary changes to the Rules are being made.

Extension of filing deadline for annual financial statements and returns without additional fees to ease form revision compliance.
The Ministry revised AOC-4 and is updating AOC-4 (XBRL) and AOC-4 (CFS); to allow companies time to adapt, financial statements and annual returns ordinarily due within the statutory post AGM periods may be filed by the extended date without payment of additional filing fees, provided the company's due date for holding its Annual General Meeting falls on or after the commencement of the impacted period. The instruction directs registrars and stakeholders to accept such late filings under these terms during the form deployment.

Extension of filing deadlines for corporate e forms and LLP annual returns with waiver of additional fees allowed.
The Ministry authorised a one time administrative concession extending the period during which a waiver of additional fees applies to company e forms due in the specified filing window and moved the final filing date so companies may file electronically without additional fees. Separately, the filing deadline for LLP annual return (Form 11) for the stated financial year was extended to a later final date, allowing LLPs to submit Form 11 without payment of additional fees.

Waiver of additional filing fees extended; e form filing deadline and waiver benefit period prolonged for affected companies.
Extension of the one time waiver of additional fees for e forms under the Companies Act is granted for filings due between 25 March 2016 and 31 May 2016, with the deadline to file and avail the waiver extended to 10 June 2016; the relaxation applies to all e forms with due dates in that window and is issued in response to stakeholder requests under Ministry authority.

Corporate Social Responsibility must not contravene other prevailing laws, including tobacco control, when companies undertake CSR activities.
Companies undertaking Corporate Social Responsibility under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 must ensure CSR activities do not contravene any other prevailing laws; the Ministry explicitly cites the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 as applicable and directs companies to align CSR implementation with existing statutory prohibitions.

Risk weight linkage to bond ratings: rating-differentiated capital charges specified for corporate bond investments for short and long term instruments
The circular mandates that risk weights for corporate bond investments by SPDs be linked to the bond's external credit rating: a graded scale applies to short term instruments ( one year) with lower weights for top short term ratings and higher weights for lower or unrated ratings, and a corresponding graded scale applies to long term instruments (> one year). The revision replaces a uniform risk weight and is effective immediately for capital adequacy calculations.

Accounting standards applicability: amended standards govern preparation of accounts for periods commencing on or after notification.
Amended Accounting Standards under the Companies (Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules, 2016 must be applied in preparation of company accounts for accounting periods that commence on or after the date of notification, thereby fixing the temporal applicability of the amendments and providing regulatory guidance for implementation and compliance.

Waiver of additional fee for delayed e form filings after system launch, subject to filing by the specified extended deadline.
The Ministry acknowledged V2R2 launch disruptions and, as a one time administrative measure, ordered waiver of additional fees for e forms due during the system disruption period, provided such forms are filed by the specified extended deadline; filings after that final date will not receive the relaxation.

Hindu Undivided Family membership in LLP: HUF or its karta cannot serve as partner or designated partner.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs clarifies that, under the LLP Act, only an individual or a body corporate may be a partner; a HUF is not a body corporate. Therefore, a HUF or its Karta cannot be admitted as a partner or serve as a designated partner in a Limited Liability Partnership.

Corporate Social Responsibility compliance: Boards must ensure approved spending, disclosures, and projects align with Schedule VII requirements.
Section 135 requires eligible companies to have Board approved CSR policies and programmes recommended by CSR Committees, compute average net profit per Companies Act rules, and spend prescribed amounts that are not business deductions. CSR activities must relate to Schedule VII and may include contributions to trusts or section 8 companies if exclusively for CSR purposes. Ineligible items include employee only benefits, one off events, statutory compliance costs, political contributions and projects outside India. Boards must disclose CSR policy on websites and include an annual CSR report in the Board's Report; government's role is limited to rule making and disclosure requirements.