E-FILING
(Under
Comapnies
Act,
1956)
The
Ministry
of
Company
Affairs
(MCA)
has
launched
a major
e-Governance
initiative
‘MCA
21'. On
its
implementation
all
documents
needs to
be filed
electronically
with the
Registrar
of
Companies
through
the MCA
portal.
Hence,
the old
forms
have
become
redundant.
New
forms
have
been
designed
for each
event
and the
same
needs to
be filed
currently
with the
ROC.
The
e - filing
is mandatory
with effect
from 15th
September,
2006
The
basis of
e-filing
would depend
upon the
following
three
factors:
1. Every
company
needs to
have CIN -
Company
Registration
Number
2. Every
Director
needs to
have a DIN -
Director
Identification
Number
3. Every
document
needs to be
attested by
using
Digital
Signature
CIN:
CIN is the
21 digit
registration
number that
is being
issued to
companies
that have
been formed
say in the
past 4
years.
However
companies
registered
prior to
issue of CIN
would now be
required to
obtain CIN.
The earlier
registration
numbers were
of the type:
08- 12450.
The new CIN
is of the
format
U74140KA2005PTC036795.
The new CIN
can be
obtained
from the MCA
portal
without any
fees.
However,
currently as
this feature
is not
enabled on
the MCA
portal,
companies
need to
manually
request the
Registrar of
Companies to
provide them
their CIN.
DIN:
Director
Identification
Number (DIN)
is a unique
identification
number for
an existing
director or
a person
intending to
become the
director of
a company.
All the
persons who
are already
Director/s
of a
company/ies
or proposed
to be a
Director are
required to
have a DIN
compulsorily.
In the
present
scenario of
e-filing,
DIN will be
a
pre-requisite
for filing
of certain
company
related
documents.
No fee is
required to
be paid for
the same. To
get the DIN
an online
application
is to be
filed. A
provisional
DIN will be
issued after
online
filing.
Thereafter,
the printed
detail of
the fields
entered has
to be
generated. A
photo has to
be attached
on the form
with proof
of the
residence
duly
attested by
Notary/
Gazetted
Officer/
Certified
Professionals
(CA/ CS/
ICWA). The
same will
then be
submitted in
the RD
office
(Regional
Director) at
Noida. The
RD office at
Noida will
issue the
DIN. While
filing the
forms the
company
identification
number (CIN)
also needs
to be
mentioned.
It has been
clarified by
MCA that on
resignation
of the
Director
from a
company the
DIN obtained
does not
have to be
cancelled.
The DIN will
remain with
the
individual
only. This
is intended
to be a
lifetime
number.
Digital
Certificate
: A Digital
Signature is
an
electronic
signature
duly
attested by
a Certifying
Authority
that shows
the
authenticity
of the
person
signing the
same. For
MCA 21, the
following
category of
persons are
identified
as users of
Digital
Signature
Certificates
(DSC's)
a) MCA
(Government)
employees
b)
Professionals
(Chartered
Accountants,
Cost
Accountants,
Company
Secretaries
& Lawyers
who interact
with MCA)
c)
Authorised
signatories
and
Directors of
companies
d)
Representatives
of Banks and
Financial
Institutions
Digital
Signature
Certificates
are used in
e-forms to
ensure the
signatory
authentication
and
authentication
of data.
The e-forms
and
documents
shall be
digitally
signed
during the
submission
of requests
by the users
namely
Directors or
professionals.
The Digital
Signature
Certificate
shall also
be used to
login into
the MCA
portal
instead of a
password.
OTHER
FEATURES OF
E-FILING:
Certification
of e-forms
Certification
of company
documents by
practicing
professionals
as is
presently
required,
has not only
been
continued by
MCA-21 in
its e-forms
but the same
has also
been
extended to
several
other forms
comprising
of Form
Nos.2, 3, 5,
8, 10,
17, 18, 23,
24AB, 32.
This
pre-certification
can be
carried out
by Chartered
Accountants
in
whole-time
practice as
well as by
Company
Secretaries
and Cost
Accountants
in
practice.
Besides Form
1 of
Companies
(Declaration
of Dividend
out of
Reserves)
Rules, 1975
and Form 1
of Investor
Education
and
Protection
Fund
(Awareness
and
Protection
of
Investors)
Rules, 2001
are also to
be
pre-certified.
Infrastructure
for e-filing
The
pre-requisite
for using
the portal
MCA- 21 will
be:
1. P-4
Computer
with
printer,
2. Internet
Explorer 6.0
ver.
3. Adobe
Acrobat
Reader 7.05
ver. and
4. Digital
Signature
Certificate.
Facilities
The
following
facility
will be
available in
e-filing
1.
Pre-filling
(based on
information
already
provided).
2.
Pre-scrutiny
(validation
of various
entries
made)
3.
Attachment
of document
4. Payment
calculated
by system
5. Payment
may be
‘Challan'
based or
online
through
Payment
Gateway.
Payment
Gateway
The
traditional
‘Challan'
based
systems may
be used. MCA
has tied up
with 200
branches of
SEBI, PNB,
Indian Bank,
ICICI and
HDFC Bank
for this
purpose.
For online
payment the
Payment
Gateway of
ICICI Bank
has been
implemented.
Some
Clarifications
MCA has
clarified on
the
following
issues:
1. The
filing will
be done only
through the
portal MCA
21 and not
through
Email.
2. The
transaction
will be
deemed as
completed
only after
clearance of
the payment
by the bank.
3. The
systems will
hold the
applications
for five
days till
the payment
is made
4. Stamp
duty will be
paper
based. It
is proposed
that the
payment of
stamp duties
will also be
made online
in phases
through
banks in
near
future.15
states have
already
authorized
the Central
Government
in this
regard (as
stamp duty
is a State
subject) and
authorization
from the
remaining
States is
expected.
All the
information
relating to
MCA-21 is
made
available on
the new
portal
www.mca.gov.in.
In the above
context, it
is necessary
to have all
the
necessary
pre-requisites
in place
before the
MCA portal
becomes live
to interact
efficiently and
in timely
manner with
the
Registrar of
Companies
and for
filing of
documents in
time. |