The Registrar of Companies (ROC) of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh has served a showcause notice on 11,888 companies for violating company laws for several years. The companies had not filed balance sheets with the ROC for three years.
Out of the total, 35 companies are listed and 22 are government undertakings. Those issued notice were 6,112 from Punjab, 4,002 from Chandigarh and 1,774 from Himachal Pradesh.
Speaking to Business Standard, Raj Singh from ROC said: “These companies were found guilty of the contravention of the provisions of the Section 162, 168, 210 & 220 of the Companies Act, 1956. According to the provisions, the companies and its directors can be fined Rs 1,000 a day. The companies are given time till August 31 to file an explanation.”
The warning was given to the companies for not filing their balance sheets during the period and the directors would be barred from joining another company in the same capacity in the future, he added.
Singh explained: “The Amnesty Scheme, under which these companies fall, allows a 75 per cent discount to these defunct companies and gives them an ‘Easy Exit Scheme’ option. In case the August 31 deadline lapses, criminal prosecution against these companies will begin.”
Section 433 of the Companies Act lists that not filing their balance sheet for 5 years with ROC can lead to dissolution of any of defunct company, he said. Singh did not rule out the possibility of big companies falling short of the August 31 deadline.
A 13-member team has been formed to start work in this direction, while 24 lawyers have also been included from the central government panel.
A list of these companies is also provided to the Income Tax Department for taking action against them for not filing their returns, a compulsion under the Income Tax Act.