???????? ??? ?????? ???????? ??? ???????????? (???? ??.??. ?????)
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY)
(a) & (b): A number of initiatives have been taken by Government of India to improve the overall business regulatory environment in the country. Steps taken to facilitate ease of doing business are placed in Annexure-I.
(c): Following initiatives have been taken to facilitating issuance of construction permits, but not limited to corporates-
i. For issuing construction permits, an Online Building Permission System (OBPS) has been implemented in Delhi and Mumbai, integrating all internal and external agencies for granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for construction activities.
ii. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has released Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016, which contains a Chapter on Streamlining the Building Plan approval in a time bound manner using online tools. The MBBL-2016 have been shared with all the States/Union Territories (UTs) for adoption. Further, detailed Guidelines on Online Building Permission System (OBPS) have been issued to all States/UTs.
iii. 16 States/UTs have stipulated construction permits to be provided within 45 days:-
a. Building plan approval in 30 days of applying
b. Plinth level inspection is done in 7 days of intimation
c. Final completion/occupancy certificate is provided within 8 days of applying
iv. 12 States/UTs have developed online single window for building plan approval which allows users to upload building plans, apply for NOCs from various agencies, pay fee online and download certificates/ approvals/ NOCs.
(d): Regulatory reforms undertaken by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and regulators are as under, but not limited to corporates-
i. CEA regulations amended for allowing installation of transformers up-to 500 KVA on double pole structure.
ii. CEA notification to waive off electrical inspector approval for 11 KV installations carried out by DISCOMs and allowing self-certification by DISCOMs engineers in such cases
iii. Changed Tariff Regulation in Delhi to allow Low Tension (LT) connection up-to 150 KVA and rationalized LT Tariff for taking LT connection up-to 150 KVA. Mumbai has also allowed upto 140 KVA connections to be LT connections. This has resulted in reduction of number of procedures (External works of meter board conducted by customer’s electrical contractor) and associated costs of Distribution infrastructure which add up to the cost of obtaining electricity connection by Commercial Consumers.
iv. Change in Supply code in Delhi to facilitate reduction in cost and time for new connection.
v. Rationalization of service connection and security deposit costs to commercial consumers under LT connections have resulted in a reduction of costs to be paid for by such consumers for obtaining electricity connections.
(e): Following steps have been taken to facilitate registering of property but not limited to corporates:-
i. Department of Land Resources is running Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) and providing funds to the States/UTs for Digitization of Cadastral Maps and Computerization of Registration in addition to Survey/Resurvey, Computerization of Land Records and establishment of Modern Record Rooms. The main objective is to develop a modern comprehensive and transparent land records management system in the country to minimize scope of land/property disputes, enhanced transparency in the land records maintenance system. So far 31 States/UTs have completed the computerization of registration.
ii. In Mumbai, deeds/title records have been digitized and have been made available online.
iii. In Mumbai and Delhi, maps have been digitized and made available online.
iv. Grievance Redressal Systems have been implemented for Sub-registrar office (Mumbai and Delhi) and cadastral mapping agency (Delhi).
v. In Delhi, property transaction statistics have been made available online.
(f): Following initiatives have been taken for protecting corporate investors:-
i. In order to protect the corporate investors, the approval of shareholders in a general meeting has been made mandatory effective from 30.03.2017 for contracts or arrangements with a related party for (i) sale, purchase or supply of any goods or materials, directly or through appointment of agent, exceeding ten per cent of turnover of the company or Rupees one hundred crore whichever is lower, (ii) selling or otherwise disposing of or buying property of any kind, directly or through appointment of agent, exceeding ten per cent of net worth of the company or Rupees one hundred crore, whichever is lower, (iii) leasing of property of any kind exceeding ten per cent of the net worth of the company or ten per cent of turnover of the company or Rupees one hundred crore, whichever is lower, (iv) availing or rendering of any services, directly or through appointment of agent, exceeding ten per cent of the turnover of the company or Rupees fifty crore, whichever is lower.
ii. Following amendments have been made to the Companies Act, 2013 to improve Ease of Doing Business:
a. Section 188 (1) of the Act read along with Rule 15 of the Companies (Meetings of Board & its Powers) Rules, 2014 (“Rules”) provides that a special resolution is required by a company to enter into any contract or arrangement with a related party. In order to solve the problems faced by large stakeholders who are related parties, the Amendment Act has replaced the requirement of passing a ‘special resolution’ with ‘ordinary resolution’ for approval of related party transactions by non-related shareholders.
b. Explanation to Rule 15 of the Rules further provides that for the purpose of entering into a transaction between wholly owned subsidiary and a holding company, a special resolution passed by the holding company shall be sufficient. By way of this amendment, related party transactions between holding companies and wholly owned subsidiaries have been exempt from the requirement of approval of non-related shareholders if the accounts of such a subsidiary are consolidated with such holding company and placed before the shareholders at the general meeting for approval.
c. As per The amendment Act, 2017, under section 188, the requirement related to restriction on voting by related party in the general meeting shall not apply to a company in which ninety per cent or more members in numbers are relatives of promoters or related parties. Non-ratification of transaction shall be voidable at the option of the Board or shareholders, as the case may be. Earlier it was only voidable at the option of the Board.
d. Section 177 of the Act allows the audit committee of a company to approve and review related party transactions of the company. The Amendment Act now empowers such audit committees to give collective approvals for related party transactions on an annual basis. This amendment aligns the Act with the SEBI policy and further increases the ease of doing business for companies.
e. As per the Amendment Act, 2017, under section 177, Instead of every listed company, every listed public company and such other class of Companies shall constitute an audit committee. Transactions with Related party other than those prescribed under section 188, if not approved by Audit committee, will require the approval of Board of Directors.
f. In case any transaction involving any amount not exceeding one crore rupees is entered into by a director or officer of the company without obtaining the approval of the Audit Committee and it is not ratified by the Audit Committee within three months from the date of the transaction, such transaction shall be voidable at the option of the Audit Committee and if the transaction is with the related party to any director or is authorized by any other director, the director concerned shall indemnify the company against any loss incurred by it.
g. Approval of audit committee with respect to transactions between a holding company and its wholly owned subsidiary company will only be required, if the transactions falls under section 188.
********
Download PDF Files
