(a) whether any concession regarding utilizing CSR funds have been provided to the companies during this year due to COVID-19 pandemic;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the manner in which the companies have utilized the said concession along with the manner in which audit is undertaken in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE
AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)
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(a) to (c): Ministry vide General Circular no.10/2020 dated 23.03.2020 clarified that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds may be spent by the companies for various activities related to COVID-19 under item nos. (i) and (xii) of Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 (‘Act’) which relates to promotion of health care, including preventive health care and sanitation, and disaster management. Further, Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, 2014 were amended to enable companies to undertake CSR activities in their normal course of business for undertaking research and development of new vaccine, drugs and medical devices related to COVID-19 for three financial years in collaboration with any of the institutes or organisations mentioned in item no. (ix) of the Schedule VII of the Act.
The entire CSR architecture is disclosure based and CSR mandated companies are required to file details of CSR amount spent annually in MCA21 registry, which is available in public domain at www.csr.gov.in. As per the Act, companies are required to hold Annual General Meeting (AGM) within six months from the end of financial year. Thereafter, financial statements and board report containing disclosure about CSR, are to be filed in MCA21 registry within 30 days of the AGM. Thus, for the ongoing financial year no filing has been made by CSR mandated companies.
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