Special measures for companies and LLPs in view of COVID-19 outbreak

Last updated: 26 March 2020

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In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has introduced special measures to support companies and LLPs. These include a moratorium on additional fees for late filings between April 1st and September 30th, 2020, allowing businesses to catch up on compliance without penalty. Additionally, the mandatory interval between board meetings has been extended by 60 days, permitting a gap of up to 180 days until September 30th, 2020. The application of the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020, has also been deferred to the financial year 2020-2021.

General Circular No. 11 /2020
F. No. 2/1/2020-CL-V

Government of India
Ministry of Corporate Affairs

5th Floor. 'A' Wing, Shastri Bhawan,
Dr. R. P. Road, New Delhi-110001
Dated: 24th March, 2020

All Regional Directors,
All Registrar of Companies,
All Stakeholders

Subject: Special Measures under Companies Act, 2013 (CA-2013) and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 in view of COVID-19 outbreak

Sir,

In order to support and enable Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in India to focus on taking necessary measures to address the COVID-19 threat, including the economic disruptions caused by it, the following measures have been implemented by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to reduce their compliance burden and other risks: -

I. No additional fees shall be charged for late filing during a moratorium period from 01St April to 30th September 2020, in respect of any document, return, statement etc., required to be filed in the MCA-21 Registry, irrespective of its due date, which will not only reduce the compliance burden, including financial burden of companies! LLPs at large, but also enable long-standing non-compliant companies/ LLPs to make a 'fresh start'. The Circulars specifying detailed requirements in this regard are being issued separately.

II. The mandatory requirement of holding meetings of the Board of the companies within the intervals provided in section 173 of the Companies Act, 2013 (CA-13) (120 days) stands extended by a period of 60 days till next two quarters i.e., till 30th September. Accordingly, as a one-time relaxation the gap between two consecutive meetings of the Board may extend to 180 days till the next two quarters, instead of 120 days as required in the CA-13.

III. The Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 shall be made applicable from the financial year 2020-2021 instead of being applicable from the financial year 2019-2020 notified earlier. This will significantly ease the burden on companies & their auditors for the financial year 2019-20. A separate notification has been issued for this purpose.

To read more in details, find the enclosed file

FAQ :

The moratorium period for late filings without additional fees is from 1st April 2020 to 30th September 2020.

The mandatory interval between two consecutive board meetings has been extended by 60 days, allowing a gap of up to 180 days instead of the usual 120 days, until September 30th, 2020.

The Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020, will be applicable from the financial year 2020-2021, instead of the previously notified financial year 2019-2020.

These special measures are for Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in India.