Most Urgent Dear Colleagues,
You may be aware that Ministry of Corporate Affairs proposesto amend Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules,2020. Please read carefully the letter from Prof. Anil K. Aneja, ourVice President and Chair of Advocacy Cell and send your comments after readingthe draft prepared by Prof. Aneja. Lastdate for submission is 10th April, therefore you should take up thismatter on priority basis and send your comments as soon as possible as per theProf. Aneja’s comments, if you agree with the comments. With Kind Regards J. L. Kaul Recipient of Padma Shri Award 2014 Secretary General All India Confederation of the Blind Braille Bhawan, Sector-5, Rohini, Delhi-110085 Mob: 9810684208 te: www.aicb.org.in - AICB comments on the draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020 All India Confederation of the Blind Suggestions regarding Rule 4 of the Draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020 1. In Sub-rule 1 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014, there was a proviso stating that the CSR activities undertaken by the company will be activities “excluding activities undertaken in pursuance of its normal course of business.” This provision has not been included in the draft Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020 and needs to be incorporated. Justification: a) There is nothing in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 warranting the exclusion of the above important provision which was included in Sub-rule 1 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014. b) Inclusion of the above provision is important to prevent the companies from projecting their supplementary activities of “normal course of business” as CSR activities. 2. The first proviso of Sub-rule 1 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020, requiring companies/entities to register with the Central Govt. for any CSR activity by filling the e-form and paying the fees, needs to be omitted for the following reason. Justification: a) This provision was not present in the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 and there is nothing in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 to warrant such a provision. b) Apart of additional bureaucratic procedure, the provision does not seem to serve any purpose. c) The proviso in reference will seriously hamper the flow of CSR activities because registration with the Central Govt. needs to be done for every CSR activity, small or big. Many times, such activities are in the nature of events which need to be executed at a very short notice. Therefore, the provision in reference will be a deterrent to the flow of CSR activities in the civil society and cause inconvenience for companies/entities. 3. The proviso in Sub-rule 3 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020, permitting companies to “engage an international organization for implementation of a CSR project subject to prior approval of the central government” needs to be omitted for the reasons given below. Justification: a) This provision was not there in the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 and there is nothing in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 to warrant such a provision. b) The proviso of permitting companies to engage international organizations “for implementation of a CSR project” is in contradiction with Sub-Rule 1 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020 which clearly stipulates that the CSR activities can only be carried out by companies/entities registered under Central Govt or State Legislature. c) The direct involvement of International organizations in CSR Activities, apart from violating Sub-rule 1 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020, has the potential of seriously and negatively impacting the support provided by the companies to the civil society organizations/NGOs which are registered in India and which have a much stronger awareness of the ground realities of the social sector of this country. d) The provision in reference is also against the spirit Section 135 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 which seeks to strengthen the involvement of the industry with the civil societies/NGOs of this country and through that, to work towards a composite development of the country. e) As international organizations may not have adequate and appropriate knowledge of Indian social situation, their interventions may at times run counter to the requirements of the specific segments of the social sector. 4. In Sub-rule 4 or Rule 4, the following should be added: “(5) The CSR projects or programs or activities that benefit only the employees of the company and their families shall not be considered as CSR activities in accordance with Section 135 of the Act.” Justification: a) This provision was there under Sub-rule 5 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 but has been excluded from the draft of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020. b) There is nothing is Section 135 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 to warrant such a provision. c) The re-inclusion of this provision will significantly help in the appropriate deployment of CSR funds by the companies. 5. In Sub-rule 4 or Rule 4, the following should be added: “(6) Companies may build CSR capacities of their own personnel as well as those of their Implementing agencies through Institutions with established track records of at least three financial years but such expenditure [including expenditure on administrative overheads,] shall not exceed five percent, of total CSR expenditure of the company in one financial year.” Justification: a) This provision was there under Sub-rule 6 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 but has been excluded from the draft of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020. b) There is nothing is Section 135 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 to warrant such a provision. c) The re-inclusion of this provision will significantly help in the appropriate deployment of CSR funds by the companies. 6. In Sub-rule 4 or Rule 4, the following should be added: “(7) Contribution of any amount directly or indirectly to any political party under section 182 of the Act, shall not be considered as CSR activity.” Justification: a) This provision was there under Sub-rule 7 of Rule 4 of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 but has been excluded from the draft of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2020. b) There is nothing is Section 135 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 to warrant such a provision. c) The re-inclusion of this provision will significantly help in the appropriate deployment of CSR funds by the companies. Sd/- Prof. Anil K. Aneja, Vice-President, All India Confederation of the Blind. The process of submitting the comments is online, the link to which is:http://feedapp.mca.gov.in/csr/ The following method needs to be followed for submitting the comments:1. Register using the tab ‘Sign Up’ 2. Login using the User Id/Email under the tab ‘Log in’ 3. After login , select the relevant nature i.e. 'Rules', 4. On selecting the nature, select the relevant Rule from the drop down list, which is 'Rule 4'. 5. Select the relevant Sub-rule number, in this case 'All'.6. Post your comments in the text box given below in the form and submit it.7. Once you submit the comments, a message is displayed on the next window stating that the comments have been successfully recorded. 8. The comments can by edited after it is posted by going to the Tab ‘My Suggestions’. With regards,Sincerely yours,Prof. Anil K. Aneja. -- Prof. Anil K. AnejaDepartment of English, University of Delhi; Nodal Officer, PwD, University of Delhi; Grievance Redressal Officer, PwD, University of Delhi;OSD, Equal Opportunity Cell,University of Delhi.Chairman, Maharaja Agrasen College,University of Delhi. Vice-President,All India Confederation of the Blind.Chair, Rehabilitation Committee,World Blind Union.Ph. No. 9871495050 e-mail: [email protected] -- BE HAPPY AND MAKE OTHERS HAPPY M.Muthu Selvi Manager, Allahabad Bank and Secretary, All India Confederation of the blind. Email: [email protected] Skype: muthump2007 Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
