The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rules made thereunder have come into force from 01.04.2014. This is the first year of implementation of CSR by companies under the Act. The performance of companies in this regard can be assessed only after the Statutory Annual Returns on CSR are filed by the companies, which are due after September, 2015.

Being the first year of implementation of CSR under the legislation, it would be premature to comment on the adequacy and effectiveness of the present policy. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs have, however, issued necessary clarifications from time to time to facilitate implementation of CSR by companies.

This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Corporate Affair in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

Corporate Social Responsibility compliance: assessment deferred until statutory annual CSR returns are filed; clarifications issued to aid implementation. CSR obligations under the Companies Act, 2013 began in the first year of implementation and corporate performance cannot be assessed until the statutorily required annual CSR returns are filed; evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of the framework is premature, and administrative clarifications have been issued to facilitate implementation and reporting.