Amendments to Schedule VII of Companies Act, 2013

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 11th October, 2019 (Date of its publication in the Official Gazette: 11th October, 2019).—

G.S.R. 776(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 467 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendments to Schedule VII of the said Act, namely:-

In the said Schedule VII, for item (ix) and the entries relating thereto, the following item and entries shall be substituted, namely:-

 “(ix) Contribution to incubators funded by Central Government or State Government or any agency or Public Sector Undertaking of Central Government or State Government, and contributions to public funded Universities, Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Laboratories and Autonomous Bodies (established under the auspices of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) engaged in conducting research in science, technology, engineering and medicine aimed at promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);”

Companies (Meetings of Board & its Powers) Amendment Rules 2019

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 11th October, 2019 (Date of its publication in the Official Gazette: 11th October, 2019).—

G.S.R. 777(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 173, 177, 178 and section 186 read with section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014, namely:—

1. (1) These rules may be called the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Amendment Rules, 2019.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Delegation of Powers to Tribunal - Sections 458 & 418 Companies Act

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 14th October, 2019.—

S.O. .....(E). In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 458 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby delegates its powers and functions under sub-section (1) of section 418 of the said Act (hereinafter referred to as the said sub-section) to provide officers and other employees to the Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal referred to in the said sub-section to the President and Chairperson of the said Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be, subject to conditions as specified in the recruitment rules of the respective posts as approved and notified by the Central Government.

DPIIT Launches Website and Mobile App for IPR

Oct 14, 2019: Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Guruprasad Mohapatra launched the website and mobile application [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) today in New Delhi. The website and app has been developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)-DPIIT in collaboration with Qualcomm and National Law University (NLU), Delhi.

Speaking on this occasion, Secretary DPIIT said that it is an important project taken up by the Department as both the website and app will be very useful to the startup community which holds great promise for India and its economy. Startups are more tuned into investment and risk taking but lack legal knowledge and today when we are on the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution the interface between technology and law is growing and therefore it is very essential that a specialised website and app is available to help startups with the IP process, added Secretary DPIIT.

Wholesale Price Index WPI Sep 2019 declined by 0.1% to 121.3 (prov.)

The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of September, 2019 declined by 0.1% to 121.3 (provisional) from 121.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

(Data hereunder is sourced from the press release dated 14th October, 2019 released by Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India.)

INFLATION

The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 0.33% (provisional) for the month of September, 2019 (over September, 2018) as compared to 1.08% (provisional) for the previous month and 5.22% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 1.17% compared to a build up rate of 3.96% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Seven Requirements For Hiring a Good Lawyer

Many people may wonder if a lawyer who has graduated from law school, passed the bar exam and is licensed to practice law is a good lawyer. A new attorney is not ready to represent clients on their own. There is no substitute for experience. There are certain things people need to consider when trying to hire a good lawyer.

1. Reputation

If a lawyer has a reputation for losing in court and too many unsatisfied clients, their education and law license won't be enough to consider them. Good attorneys can combine experience with success in pre-litigation issues and more. A history of success with a bench and jury trial at state and federal levels is important. A lawyer with a reputation for providing effective and aggressive representation is a lawyer worth considering.

RBI Imposes Penalties on Toyota Financial Services and Balancehero

Oct 10, 2019: Reserve Bank of India imposes monetary penalty on Toyota Financial Services India Limited.—

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated October 09, 2019, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹ 5 lakh on M/s Toyota Financial Services India Limited (company), for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on ‘Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs’. The penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 58G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of section 58B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (the RBI Act).

This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers.

GST annual return filing optional for Small Taxpayers 2017-18 2018-19

The following notification seeks to make filing of annual return under section 44 (1) of CGST Act for F.Y. 2017-18 and 2018-19 optional for small taxpayers whose aggregate turnover is less than Rs 2 crores and who have not filed the said return before the due date.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Notification No. 47/2019 – Central Tax dated the 9th October, 2019.—

G.S.R......(E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 148 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies those registered persons whose aggregate turnover in a financial year does not exceed two crore rupees and who have not furnished the annual return under sub-section (1) of section 44 of the said Act read with sub-rule (1) of rule 80 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules) before the due date, as the class of registered persons who shall, in respect of financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, follow the special procedure such that the said persons shall have the option to furnish the annual return under sub-section (1) of section 44 of the said Act read with sub-rule (1) of rule 80 of the said rules:

SEBI Circular on Framework for issue of Depository Receipts

SEBI Circular No. SEBI/HO/MRD/DOP1/CIR/P/2019/106 dated October 10, 2019.—

1. Reference is drawn to Section 41 of the Companies Act, 2013, Companies (Issue of Global Depository Receipts) Rules, 2014 (‘GDR Rules’), the Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014 (‘DR Scheme’), Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) notification dated December 15, 2014, Central Government notification dated September 18, 2019 and Central Government notification dated October 07, 2019.

2. In light of the aforesaid, only ‘a company incorporated in India and listed on a Recognized Stock Exchange in India’ (‘Listed Company’) may issue Permissible Securities or their holders may transfer Permissible Securities, for the purpose of issue of Depository Receipts (‘DRs’), subject to compliance with the following requirements:

Quick Estm. of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), July 2019 — 131.1

Sep 12, 2019: The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production and Use-based Index for the month of July, 2019 (Base 2011-12=100), (data as released by Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation), is reproduced hereunder:—

1. The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 for the month of July 2019 stands at 131.1, which is 4.3 percent higher as compared to the level in the month of July 2018. The cumulative growth for the period April-July 2019 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 3.3 percent.

2. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of July 2019 stand at 100.2, 132.9 and 169.7 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 4.9 percent, 4.2 percent and 4.8 percent as compared to July 2018 (Statement I). The cumulative growth in these three sectors during April-July 2019 over the corresponding period of 2018 has been 3.4 percent, 2.8 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.

Consumer Price Index CPI for rural, urban & combined for August 2019

Sep 12, 2019: The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for the month of August 2019.

In addition to this, Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural, Urban and Combined are also being released for August 2019.

All India Inflation rates (on point to point basis i.e. current month over same month of last year, i.e., August 2019 over August 2018), based on General Indices and CFPIs are given as follows: