VIJAYAWADA: A delegation of the AP Chambers met the Registrar of Companies on the recent notices issued to various companies about the mandatory requirement to have a whole-time Company Secretary (CS) in the management team of a firm with a paid up share capital of Rs 10 crore or more. Informing that around 250 companies were issued notices, the delegation requested the Registrar of Companies to take a lenient approach in levying penalties on companies that do not have the fulltime Company Secretary.
AP Chambers president-elect Potluri Bhaskara Rao, general secretary B Raja Sekhar and treasurer Akkaiah Naidu, along with Taxation Committee vice-chairman Nitta Ravi Kishore, were among those who met the Registrar of Companies.
They stated that the AP Chambers received representations from its members that companies located in rural and semi-urban areas are finding it difficult to bring Company Secretaries on board as they are not easily available. The demand for qualified Company Secretaries is much higher than their availability. Even if some Company Secretaries are available, the companies are not in a position to meet their expected remuneration due to their financial constraints.
The penalty of Rs 5 lakh to be paid by the company and the penalty of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh to be paid by the directors and key managerial personnel as per Section 203 (5) of Companies Act, 2013 is quite high and it is a heavy burden on private firms, it said. “We hope your office will consider our suggestion and take a positive decision,” the delegation stated.