Valuation regulation: public consultation on Draft Valuers Bill extended; online submissions invited through official portal.
A Draft Valuers Bill, 2020 and the Committee of Experts' Report proposing a National Institute of Valuers have been published; public comments are invited online via the Ministry's designated portal and provided links, with a requirement that submissions not be sent by email or post. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended to 28th May 2020 to permit further stakeholder input.

Establishment of National Institute of Valuers invites public consultation; stakeholders must submit comments online by specified deadline.
Establishment of a statutory National Institute of Valuers is proposed through the Draft Valuers Bill, 2020 based on a Committee of Experts' recommendations. A public consultation is solicited; stakeholders must submit comments exclusively via the specified online portal where the Draft Bill and the Committee's report (Volumes I-III) are accessible, and are instructed not to send comments by email or post.

Extension of name reservation and resubmission deadlines for company and LLP filings to accommodate interrupted filing windows.
Extension of name reservation periods and resubmission validity for companies and LLPs is granted where original expiration or resubmission dates fell between 15 March and 3 May; company name reservations (20- and 60-day regimes) and LLP reservations (90-day regime) are extended by 20 days beyond 3 May, while RSUB resubmissions are allowed an additional 15 days beyond 3 May. SRNs already marked NTBR will be considered for extension case-by-case, and forms will not receive NTBR marking solely for non-resubmission during the extended period.

Additional fee waiver for specified belated company and LLP filings enables one-time statutory compliance without extra penalty.
The Companies Fresh Start Scheme and LLP Modified Settlement Scheme permit domestic and foreign entities to file specified belated statutory forms without additional fees during the scheme period, subject to eligibility and procedural preconditions. Director reactivation for DIR-3 KYC is allowed without the usual additional fee provided statutory disqualification is absent. Struck off companies and defunct LLPs must obtain revival or are ineligible respectively before availing benefits. Certain filings remain excluded or require separate condonation and all immunity certificates are subject to registrar approval.

Regulation of valuers: public comments invited on Draft Valuers Bill proposing a National Institute of Valuers.
A Committee of Experts recommended an institutional framework for the valuation profession and submitted a Draft Valuers Bill, 2020 recommending establishment of a National Institute of Valuers. Public comments are solicited and stakeholders must send written comments by email to the specified government address within the stated consultation period; the Committee's report and draft bill are available at the provided links.

Electronic notice and e voting: companies may use only electronic means and facilitate voting for physical shareholders.
Companies may issue notices for meetings only by electronic means while ensuring registration of member email addresses and disclosing, in the public notice, the manner in which members holding shares in physical form or without registered emails can cast votes through remote e voting or the e voting system; where postal ballots are used, the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules provisions on electronic voting and the e voting framework apply mutatis mutandis.

CSR eligibility for COVID 19 expenditure clarified: certain fund contributions and health/disaster activities qualify; wages excluded, ex gratia allowed with board declaration.
Clarification on CSR expenditure eligibility for COVID 19 states that contributions to the central relief mechanism and to State Disaster Management Authorities qualify under Schedule VII items for disaster management and health care, while contributions to Chief Minister's Relief Funds or State Relief Funds do not. CSR funds may be spent for COVID 19 activities within Schedule VII's health and disaster management provisions. Ordinary salary or wage payments to employees and casual workers during lockdown are not CSR, but ex gratia payments over and above wages for COVID 19 may qualify as a one time CSR exception with a Board declaration and statutory auditor certification.

Public consultation on CSR policy amendments extended; stakeholders must submit comments via the designated web portal only.
The period for public comments on the draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2020 has been further extended due to the COVID-19 lockdown to enable broader stakeholder participation. Comments must be submitted exclusively through the designated online portal; submissions by separate e-mail or hard copy will not be accepted.

PM CARES Fund contributions by professional institutes support emergency COVID-19 relief efforts through member and staff donations.
Contribution to the PM CARES Fund for COVID 19 relief by three central professional institutes is recorded, with aggregate donations made by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, comprising institute-level and member/staff contributions to provide assistance in emergency or distress situations arising from the COVID 19 pandemic.

Virtual Extraordinary General Meetings enabled with e voting and simplified email voting to facilitate shareholder decision making remotely.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs permits EGMs through VC/OAVM with e-Voting/simplified voting, requiring listed and e voting obligated companies to use VC/OAVM with e voting and allowing other companies to use voting via registered emails. Proxies are dispensed with while corporate representatives may participate. Companies must maintain a recorded transcript of proceedings and public companies must host it on their websites; resolutions passed must be filed with the Registrar for public viewing within the prescribed filing period.

Donations to PM CARES Fund mobilized by Ministry of Finance employees and PSUs to support COVID 19 relief efforts.
Officers and staff of the Ministry of Finance and officials of financial institutions and public sector banks made voluntary salary and CSR contributions to the PM CARES Fund for COVID 19 relief; reported aggregate contributions total 430.63 crore, comprising 228.84 crore in employee salary contributions and 201.79 crore in CSR/other contributions, with an itemised list of participating entities and their respective amounts.

Green channel filing enables deemed approval upon notification for a minority acquisition in a health insurer under competition rules.
Trishikhar Ventures LLP filed a green channel combination notice under the Competition Act and Combination Regulations for a minority acquisition in Religare Health Insurance; Trishikhar is a purpose vehicle of the Kedaara Group and Religare operates in the health insurance and related inward reinsurance activities. The filing was made under the green channel mechanism, whereby such notice is deemed approved upon filing and acknowledgement, and a public summary is available at the commission's website.

Startup support measures: coordinated grant and evaluation process to address COVID-19 liquidity, funding and scaling challenges.
Government engagement with the startup sector identified needs for access to funding, liquidity support, validation and scaling of COVID 19 related solutions, supply chain assistance for small retailers, and labour and cash flow relief. The Action COVID 19 Team was noted as launching a grant programme to seed initiatives, and a joint committee of government departments and industry associations was assigned to evaluate proposals and recommendations, with officials asked to address specific operational obstacles raised by stakeholders.

Financial system support measures: G20 action plan backing IMF toolkit expansion and new short term liquidity swap facility.
Coordination to deliver a G20 Action Plan in Response to COVID-19 focused on sustaining market functioning and enabling economic revival; proposals included reviewing and enhancing the IMF toolkit, expanding swap lines, creating a non stigmatised short term liquidity swap facility deployable rapidly, permitting flexible bilateral swap arrangements, and adopting regulatory and supervisory measures to ensure the financial system continues to support the economy.