Chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretaries can now directly upload certified annual documents of firms on MCA”s portal, without prior approval of the ministry, while holding them responsible for such submissions. The move is seen as a major initiative towards expeditious e-filing.
Now, “practicing professionals registered as members of ICAI, ICSI & ICWAI… are to be responsible for submitting/certifying documents (to be signed digitally by them) and system would accept most of these documents online without approval by Registrar of Companies or other officers of the Ministry,” the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said in a circular.
However, the ministry said, there would be regular checking of such submissions to guard against fraudulent filing. Besides, penal actions would also be taken against the companies and their officers in default for furnishing incorrect or false information in the documents as provided under the Companies Act, 1956. “Action would also be taken on receipt of any complaint, anonymous or otherwise, against such professionals,” it said.
In case of wrong submissions, professionals concerned could face debarment of 30 days or till the final enquiry report is received from the respective professional Institute by the ministry.
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