Competition regulation oversight enables elimination of anti competitive practices and protection of consumer interests and promotion of fair market competition.
The Competition Commission of India, constituted under Section 7, consists of a Chairperson and two to six Members. Under Section 18 its functions are to eliminate practices adversely affecting competition, promote and sustain competition, protect consumer interests, and ensure freedom of trade by market participants.

Valuation Professionals Bill status: report and stakeholder comments under consideration, no definite timeframe announced, update pending.
The Expert Group report on the Valuation Professionals Bill, including stakeholder comments, is under consideration by the Ministry; no definite time frame for further action has been set, as communicated in a parliamentary reply by the Minister of State.

Settlement scheme for belated company filings grants immunity from prosecution on payment of prescribed additional fees.
The Company Law Settlement Scheme, 2011 allows a defaulting company to file belated documents due up to 30.06.2011 by paying statutory filing fees plus an additional fee equal to 25% of the standardised additional fee, withdrawing any appeals against prosecution, and seeking an immunity certificate from the Registrar; certain core forms and companies facing specified proceedings are excluded.

Responsible business principles guide corporate governance, promoting sustainability and stakeholder accountability under new national voluntary guidelines.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs advocates corporate governance aligned with environmental sustainability and stakeholder expectations, assigning Company Secretaries a central role in ensuring accountability, transparency and reliable investor information. Policy measures include company law reform, a limited liability partnership regime, convergence with international reporting standards and XBRL, Go Green initiatives, investor education and an Easy Exit Scheme. The Ministry's publication of National Voluntary Guidelines shifts focus from CSR to a broader Responsible Business model, directing firms to integrate social, environmental and economic responsibilities into corporate governance.

Corporate Social Responsibility obligations require CPSEs to adopt budgets by Board resolution; implementation assessed in MoU.
CPSEs must, by Board Resolution, establish a CSR budget as a specified percentage of the previous year's net profit with graduated expenditure ranges by profit bracket; loss making CPSEs are exempt. Implementation is monitored by the administrative Ministries/Departments and assessed during MoU negotiations, with CSR performance allocated marks within the annual non financial MoU evaluation.

SFIO investigations show multiple corporate probes; no investigation was ordered against Cipla or Sun pharma companies.
The press release reports that the SFIO conducted 33 investigations across 2008-09 to 2011-12 and clarifies that specific pharmaceutical companies were not probed because no formal investigation order had been issued against them, distinguishing investigated matters from entities not subject to inquiry.

Competition appeals: appellate forum received challenges and disposed both fresh appeals and transferred legacy cases, some restored on review.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal, operating solely from New Delhi since 20 May 2009, received 36 appeals against the Competition Commission of India and disposed 24 of those appeals through end July 2011. The Tribunal also disposed 1,426 of 1,825 cases transferred from the erstwhile Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, with 114 of those disposed cases restored on review applications.

Misuse of public issue funds: prosecutions and enforcement steps including FIRs, tracing and monitoring e forms.
Misuse of public issue funds by companies is addressed through criminal and regulatory enforcement where diversion of IPO proceeds, non fulfilment of prospectus commitments, and non traceability of companies or directors result in prosecutions against companies and officers in default, lodging of FIRs, engagement of private detectives to trace disappeared parties, and use of an electronic filing mechanism to monitor and detect diversion of funds.

Class action suits enable shareholder associations to sue for corporate fraud under the Companies Bill being finalised.
The Companies Bill is being finalised on the basis of Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations and stakeholder inputs and expressly empowers class action suits by shareholder associations or groups of shareholders to enable collective legal action in cases of fraud, clarifying standing for collective redress and strengthening investor protection.

Registration under Section 592 clarifies foreign companies with Indian business must register; none reported in Bihar.
Foreign companies maintaining a place of business in India are required to register documents under the Companies Act regime; official ministerial disclosure reports aggregate registry statistics for such registrations and notes that no registered foreign company is operating from the specified State.

De-registration of inactive companies enabled through Easy Exit schemes and Fast Track Exit guidelines identifying dormant firms.
De-registration is pursued via administrative schemes: two Easy Exit Scheme rounds and Guidelines for a Fast Track Exit Mode to simplify exit for companies that never commenced business or have been non-operational. Companies failing to file Annual Returns and Balance Sheets for three consecutive years are designated dormant companies, and a state-wise list as of 31 July 2011 records the national aggregate of such dormant companies.

Appointment of statutory auditors: companies appoint auditors under the Companies Act; no move to regulatory appointment.
Appointment of statutory auditors is governed by the Companies Act framework: companies incorporated under the Act appoint their statutory auditors pursuant to the Act's provisions, and there is no proposal to transfer appointment of auditors of listed companies to a separate regulatory authority analogous to arrangements in the banking sector or for government companies.

Video conferencing for AGMs recognized and proposed mandatory for listed companies from a specified financial year to enable participation.
Recognition of shareholder participation by video conferencing is provided under the Companies Act framework, and a Ministry of Corporate Affairs circular dated 06.06.2011 proposes mandatory adoption of video conferencing for listed companies from the financial year 2012-2013 onwards, converting facilitative measures into a compliance obligation for listed entities.

Corporate Identity Number mandatory: companies must obtain and use unique identifiers for lawful operation and compliance.
The Corporate Identity Number (CIN) is a mandatory unique identifier for all companies registered in India; every company, irrespective of type, must obtain and use a CIN and cannot lawfully operate without it. The requirement is a fundamental compliance obligation tied to corporate registration, statutory records, and the Registrar's issuance and maintenance of company identification.

Shifting of Registered Office: jurisdiction moved to Central Government and delegated to Registrar of Companies, streamlining confirmation process.
Confirmation of shifting of a company's registered office from one state to another is to be transferred from the Company Law Board to the Central Government and delegated to the Registrar of Companies where the registered office is located; pending petitions will be transferred to the respective Registrar, and revised e forms and MCA 21 process changes will set out simplified procedures for effecting the confirmation and consequent alteration of the Memorandum of Association.

Online approval under Section 297: e form certification enables Central Government approval based on company declarations and professional certificates.
Online approval under Section 297 is available through a new e form capturing contract terms, board and shareholder resolutions and certified by a practicing professional; the company must obtain shareholder special resolution confirming arm's length competitive terms, non default and statutory filings, applicability under Section 297 and compliance with other Companies Act provisions, pay the prescribed fee, and approvals will be processed and communicated online on the basis of company declarations and professional certification, with false statements attracting penalties under Section 297 and Section 628.

Rectification of Register of Charges shifted to Central Government; delegation to Registrars of Companies to streamline procedures and reduce delays.
The rectification of register of charges under section 141 of the Companies Act, 1956 will be transferred from the Company Law Board to the Central Government and delegated to the respective Registrar of Companies; petitions pending with the Company Law Board on the effective date will be transferred. Revised e-forms and business re engineering under the MCA-21 system will set out the simplified procedures for companies and Registrars, expected to reduce the time and cost for condonation applications.

Online company incorporation: immediate digital registration permitted where e-forms are professionally certified, subject to liability for false declarations.
Online incorporation has been streamlined so the Registrar will issue a digital certificate of incorporation immediately when required e-forms and attachments (including MOA and AOA) are submitted electronically and certified by a practicing professional; the expedited route is optional and coexists with traditional backend processing.

Waiver of government approval permits listed companies without profits to pay high remuneration to qualified professional managers subject to conditions.
Amendment to Schedule XIII waives Central Government approval for listed companies and their subsidiaries without profits or with inadequate profits to pay remuneration above the prescribed threshold to a professional managerial person, provided the person had no direct or indirect interest in the company's or holding company's capital during the two years before or on appointment and holds a graduate-level qualification with expert or specialized professional knowledge; other general conditions in paragraph (c), Section II, Part II of Schedule XIII remain applicable.

Companies reform: new minister prioritises smooth passage of Companies Bill and stronger corporate governance and transparency.
Dr. M. Virappa Moily assumed charge as Corporate Affairs Minister and announced an intent to pursue the smooth passage of the Companies Bill, 2009 now tabled in Parliament, promote an efficient framework for corporate governance, and ensure transparent working through meetings with senior ministry officials to coordinate and operationalise these priorities.