Centre extends relief on compliance till Sept

NEW DELHI : The Centre has given yet another extension to companies to set aside part of the deposits and debentures maturing in FY21 in a dedicated account, which is a statutory requirement under the Companies Act.

The corporate affairs ministry said in a circular that the original due date specified under the law was 30 April, which was extended till end of June, and has now been further extended till the end of September.

A ministry circular on Friday said the extension is given in view of the requests received from various stakeholders seeking more time on account of the covid-19 crisis.

The extension is applicable to both deposits as well as debentures maturing in this fiscal year. The Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules of 2014 say that every company needs to set up a Debenture Redemption Reserve before the end of April every year, and deposit at least 15% of the debentures maturing in that year. This investment could be in the form of bank deposits, or central and state government securities, or specified corporate bonds. In March, the ministry had given a three-month extenaccording sion for compliance.

Similarly, companies accepting deposits from members have to deposit not less than 20% of such deposits maturing in a financial year and in the subsequent financial year in a separate account of a scheduled bank, or deposit repayment reserve account.

For this requirement under the Companies Act, too, the government had in March given three months’ extra time till end of June. Due dates for both the requirements now stand extended till end of September.

THE EXTENSION IS APPLICABLE TO BOTH DEPOSITS AS WELL AS DEBENTURES MATURING IN THIS FISCAL YEAR