Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 mandates every company above the given threshold levels to comply with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions of the Act, and to disclose contents of its CSR policy in its Board’s Report. The penalty provision for non-compliance in this regard is prescribed under Section 134 (8) of the Act.

Provisions for CSR compliance by companies, as prescribed under Section 135 of the Act, have the force of law.

This is the first year of CSR implementation by companies under the Act. The likely amount of CSR expenditure for the year 2014-15 would be known only after the Annual Financial Statements are filed by companies due after September, 2015. It may be prudent to not speculate on the quantum of CSR expenditure at this stage.

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

Corporate social responsibility mandate requires covered companies to adopt and disclose CSR policy, with statutory penalty for noncompliance. Section 135 establishes a statutory obligation requiring companies meeting prescribed thresholds to implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measures and to disclose the contents of their CSR policy in the Board's Report; the CSR compliance framework carries the force of law and non-compliance is subject to a penalty mechanism under Section 134(8).