Advisory Group to Focus on Simplifying Compliance Filings, Rationalising e-Forms under the Companies Act, and Strengthening Digital Governance

New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), has constituted a high-level Advisory Group (AG) on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) under the Chairmanship of Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director General & CEO, IICA. The initiative follows the Ministry’s order dated 31 December 2025 and aligns with the Government of India’s vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, aimed at fostering a robust, transparent, and globally competitive business ecosystem.

The constitution of this Advisory Group marks a significant step towards enhancing India’s regulatory environment by simplifying corporate compliance processes and leveraging technology-driven governance frameworks. The Group will provide strategic guidance on rationalising compliance requirements through e-forms prescribed under the Companies Act, 2013, while examining global best practices to ensure that India’s corporate regulatory architecture remains contemporary, efficient, and investor-friendly.

The Advisory Group has been entrusted with a comprehensive mandate to recommend measures for compliance efficiency and reducing the regulatory burden on businesses.

The Group will assess the feasibility of proposed reforms and develop a phased implementation roadmap to facilitate smooth execution. It will also advise on reducing duplicative filings through consolidation, automation, and event-based processing mechanisms, while providing guidance on the creation of system artefacts such as an Integrated Form Blueprint to improve user experience and regulatory clarity.

Additionally, the Advisory Group will facilitate stakeholder consultations to promote participatory policymaking, undertake impact assessments to evaluate improvements in compliance efficiency and ease of doing business, and suggest draft amendments to the Companies Act, related rules, and other allied matters to support a modern, transparent, and technology-driven corporate regulatory framework.

The Advisory Group is chaired by Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director General & CEO, IICA. The distinguished members representing government, academia, industry, and professional bodies, include:

• Shri Shantanu Mitra, Senior Economic Advisor, MCA
• Shri Sanjay Shorey, Director General of Corporate Affairs, MCA
• Shri Balamurugan D, Joint Secretary, MCA
• Prof. Harpreet Kaur, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Jodhpur
• Shri Ashish Kumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
• Shri Ajay Bahl, Founding Partner, AZB & Partners
• Shri Bahram N. Vakil, Founding Partner, AZB & Partners
• Shri P. R. Ramesh, Former Chairman, Deloitte India
• Prof. M. P. Ram Mohan, Professor, IIM Ahmedabad
• Prof. Vasanthi Srinivasan, Professor, IIM Bangalore
• Shri Pavan Kumar Vijay, Founder, Corporate Professionals; Past President, ICSI
• Shri Rahul Matthan, Founding Partner, Trilegal
• Dr. Pankaj Dikshit, Executive Director & Chief AI/Digital Officer, Cygnet.One
• Representatives from ICAI, ICSI, and ICMAI
• Representatives from CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM
• Prof. Garima Dadhich, Associate Professor & Head, School of Business Environment, IICA (Member-Convener)

The School of Business Environment, IICA, will serve as the Secretariat to the Advisory Group and support its research, consultations, and coordination activities.

As part of this broader reform initiative, IICA has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to undertake a comprehensive research study titled “Re-envisioning Ease of Doing Business for Viksit Bharat 2047.” The study is expected to generate evidence-based recommendations that support policy innovation and administrative reforms.

Ease of Doing Business reforms to rationalise e-forms and streamline corporate compliance through digital governance and consultations. A high-level Advisory Group on Ease of Doing Business will recommend measures to rationalise e-forms and simplify corporate compliance under the Companies Act by reducing duplicative filings through consolidation, automation and event-based processing, develop an Integrated Form Blueprint and a phased implementation roadmap, conduct stakeholder consultations and impact assessments, and propose draft amendments to support a modern, transparent, technology-driven corporate regulatory framework; the School of Business Environment, IICA, will serve as Secretariat and a research MoU with the Ministry will produce evidence-based recommendations.