The removal of name of companies from the Registrar of Companies is a continuous process. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Shri Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister stated that companies can also apply for removing the name of the company u/s 248(2) of the Act, which is an online application. Inactive company is defined in Explanation in (i) to sec 455(1) of the Act, whereby the companies can obtain the status of a Dormant Company, the Minister added.

Giving more details of such companies, the Minister stated as under:

Year	No. of companies removed from the Register of Companies under section 248(1) and 248(2) of the Act.	No. of Dormant     Companies
2019-20	2,933	48
2020-21	12,892	19

In response to a question on inactive and “Shell Companies”, the Minister stated that there is no definition of the term “Shell Company” in the Companies Act, 2013 (the Act). However, the Minister stated that pursuant to the provisions of section 248 (1) of the Act where the Registrar has reasonable cause to believe that the companies that are not carrying on any business or operation for a period of two immediately preceding financial years and has not made any application within such period for obtaining the status of a dormant company under section 455, shall, after following the due process of law, remove the name of those companies from the Register of Companies.

The Minister also stated that there is no Scheme called Saral Nikas Yojana by the Government.

Company name removal: registrar may remove inactive companies after due process when no dormant application is filed. The Registrar may remove a company's name where there is reasonable cause to believe the company has not carried on business for the two immediately preceding financial years and has not applied for Dormant Company status; companies may also apply for name removal by an online application and may apply to obtain dormant status under the Act.