Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons Regulations

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016 and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Fast Track Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2017 on 5th October, 2017. According to the Amended Regulations, a Resolution Plan shall include a statement as to how it has dealt with the interests of all stakeholders, including financial creditors and operational creditors, of the Corporate Debtor. 

The Amendments are available at www.mca.gov.in and www.ibbi.gov.in.

6.58 kms

6.58 kms in 44.12 minutes. Horribly humid weather in Mumbai absolutely dry, no breeze at all. Wanted to do at least 11 but could manage only this much. 

Secretarial standard on Board Meetings

Salient features of revised Secretarial Standards -1 Board Meetings

1)      The SS1 is not applicable to section 8 companies (i.e. not for profit companies). However they are required to comply with the provisions of the Act relating to Board meetings;

2)      Board meetings can be held on National Holidays also, including the adjourned Board meetings;

3)      Proof of sending notice and its delivery shall be kept by the company for a period of not less than three years;

4)      Proof of sending agenda and notes on agenda and their delivery shall be maintained by the company for a period of not less than three years;

5)      Company can send notice and agenda by registered post or speed post apart from e-mail, of course. It cannot send by courier.

6)      Four Board meetings to be held in a calendar year with a maximum interval of 120 days between two consecutive meetings. The requirement of holding one meeting in every calendar quarter has been done away with.

7)      In a private company, interested Director shall be eligible to participate in such item after disclosure of his interest.

8)      Quorum for meetings of Committee shall be as specified by the Board. If not specified by the Board then all members of the Committee to be present at the meetings.

9)      Not necessary to maintain separate attendance register for meetings of the Board and Committee;

10)   If attendance register is maintained in loose leaf form, then it shall be binded once in three years;

11)   After a person has ceased to be a Director, he has no right to inspect the attendance register of directors;

12)   The attendance register to be maintained for a period of at least 8 financial years from the last entry made and thereafter destroyed with the approval of the Board.

13)   The company may maintain its minutes in physical or electronic form. No need of timestamp required.

14)   Minutes need not mention the conclusion time of the meeting;

15)   All appointments one level below the KMP level need not be noted by the Board;

16)   Draft minutes need not be sent to the directors who did not attend the Board/ Committee meeting;

GST issues

Now that GST is two months old, some thoughts from practical experience. Basically three issues.

One is payment of GST to govt within one month of raising invoice is draconian. Nobody in India pays us within one month of raising of bill save in exceptional cases. Mostly payments are received on average between 3 to 6 months. Earlier we used to pay to the govt. on quarterly basis and that too on receipt basis. Now if we have to pay the tax in advance even before we receive our money, that means our cash flow has gone out of the window. The SME sector is badly hit. It should be minimum 3 months from date of invoice.

Second is the ridiculous concept of reverse charge mechanism wherein we have to pay tax on our purchases from unregistered dealers. That means we have to pay the GST and will receive input credit on that the next month. But our cash flow is again gone.

Third is the micro management here which means we have to report every single invoice of purchases and sales to the govt. As far as i recall in all these years of tax administration, whether direct or indirect, govt. has never asked for details of every single invoice and then match it in the system. There is a trust issue here which was prevalent all along but is sorely lacking in the GST system. Self assessment has a different meaning here. Compliance never became so onerous.

These are my observations from practical experience, unless i have understood it wrongly. 

Mumbai Railway Stations

The exits at practically every railway station in Mumbai is choc-a-block with share autos, hawkers, etc. I know of Goregaon east and west which is in bad shape, east more so. Hawkers have descended on the skywalks as well. In the Goregaon skywalk from station to the S.V. road there are hawkers at one end, druggies at other end, in between the lights are stolen, tiles are gone, the spitoons are gone, the waste buckets are gone. But that is a different matter. It is the crowd that we are talking about, its a total mess. Andheri east and west, both are very bad. Chembur is mess on both sides and so is Ghatkopar. Kurla is horrible. Vashi & CBD Belapur are good. Borivli is bad and so is Malad and Kandivli. Dadar is atrocious to say the least. The only station where i found open space near the station is at Mira Road where i had gone recently. No autos or stalls were allowed in that open space. But that was in the early morning hours, so don't know the situation there in the evening hours. So these share autos and hawkers are being protected by the neta mafia, otherwise why would they be allowed to set up stalls there. Decongestion of the area near the railway stations should be done otherwise if there is an accident at the railway tracks, how will the ambulance move smoothly to the nearest hospital within the designated time.

NDMA guidelines on ensuring disaster resilient construction of buildings and infrastructure

NDMA guidelines on ensuring disaster resilient construction of buildings and infrastructure to be followed by banks while considering bank home loans especially in disaster vulnerable areas. NDMA guidelines to be found here.



RBI Circular on the subject to be found here

Indian News Channels

i was watching CNN international yesterday after i got news about the Las Vegas shooting and it is CNN I and BBC World Service that i always watch for international news. It is refreshing to watch these channels compared to our own Indian news channels. There is a big difference. There is no screaming and shouting that takes place like in the indian news channels. Everything is measured and controlled. The panelists that they call for discussions are technical experts on the field, not the political rabble rousers that we find in Indian news channels. The guy who shot the video was bought on live via audio, the news anchor did not interrupt him even once, he was not cut short or the words were not literally put into his mouth. The emphasis was on bringing you the news dispassionately, not making the news or concocting news. They did not draw their own conclusions about the identity of the killer or the motive behind it. That is the job of the law enforcement, they said.