The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a circular on 24 July 2017 (Circular) which requires that all new applications for registration of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) be mandatorily and exclusively registered on the SEBI intermediary portal i.e. https://siportal.sebi.gov.in (Portal).
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India vide a notification on 5 July 2017 that was published in the Official Gazette of India on 6 July 2017 (Notification) amended Schedule IV of the Companies Act, 2013 which sets out the ‘Code for Independent Directors’ (Code).
Pursuant to the Notification, inter-alia, the following key changes have been made to the Code
Less than a month after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) published an office memorandum setting out the roadmap for the post-FIPB abolishment period, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has on 29 June 2017 published a standard operating procedure (SOP) for processing foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals in India.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India by way of a notification in the Official Gazette on 29 June 2017 exempted every person or enterprise that is a party to a combination under section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) from providing a mandatory notice to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) within 30 (thirty) days of either approval of the proposal relating to merger or amalgamation set out in section 5 (c) of the Act by the board of directors of the merging or amalgamating enterprise, or execution of any agreement or document for acquisition referred to in section 5 (a) of the Act or of acquiring control referred to in section 5 (b) of the same for a period of 5 years commencing from 29 June 2017 onwards (Exemption Notification).
The Government of India recently notified the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 (Rules) in the Official Gazette. The Rules are issued under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (Act), and were enacted to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and for related matters.
The Act and the Rules are applicable to every establishment including Government establishments and private establishments.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) Section of the Department of Economic Affairs (DoEA) of the Government of India’s (GoI) Union Ministry of Finance (MoF) published an office memorandum dated 5 June 2017 (OM) setting out the roadmap in relation to the post-FIPB abolishment period.
Continuing its stance of promoting ‘maximum governance and minimum government’, the Union Cabinet of the Government of India chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 May 2017 gave its approval for phasing out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and empowered individual government ministries/ departments to process applications for foreign direct investment (FDI) requiring government approval. A press release was issued on 24 May 2017 itself by the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India (Press Release) in this regard.
The Government of India (GOI) amended the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Act) vide a notification in the Official Gazette on 4 May 2017 by means of a presidential ordinance (Amendment Ordinance). The Amendment Ordinance has given the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) powers to tackle bad loans by issuing directions to any banking company to initiate insolvency proceedings for any default in debts, and also for issuing directions to banking companies for resolution of stressed assets.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on 19 April 2017 notified in the Official Gazette of India, the remaining sections (i.e. 3-19, section 40, sections 59-70 and sections 79-80) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (Act) with effect from 1 May 2017 thereby protecting the interests of real estate buyers in India.
The Act aims to promote transparency and accountability in the real estate sector and provides for an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute redressal in the form of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) (as adopted by various States), with appeals from decisions, directions or orders of the RERA and/ or the adjudicating officer being made to the appellate tribunal under the Act (Appellate Tribunal).
The Supreme Court of India (SC) on 20 April 2017 in the case of Mahendra Singh Dhoni v. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar and Anr. held that only malicious or deliberate acts, or attempts, undertaken with the intention of outraging the religious beliefs of a class of citizens would be penalized under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Finance Minister of India presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 (Budget) on 23 June 2024. The Budget, particularly, focuses on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class along with all-around prosperity. Some key highlights of the Budget are: India’s real GDP grew by 8.2% in FY
On 16 April 2024, the Indian Ministry of Finance amended the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (NDI Rules) revising the permissible limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the space sector effective the date of the notification i.e. 16 April 2024. Under the amended FDI policy, 100% FDI
The Indian Government has today notified The Foreign Exchange Management (Non debt Instruments) Amendment Rules, 2024 (Amendment Rules) prescribing provisions pertaining to direct listing of shares of Indian companies on the stock exchanges outside India. The Amendment Rules have come into force from today when these have been published in
In December 2023, 3 new Criminal Legislations, namely the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Evidence Act), respectively. These 3 new
On 09 August 2023, the Indian Parliament passed the much awaited Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 (“DPDP Bill“). The DPDP Bill seeks to introduce data protection law with minimum disruption while ensuring necessary change in the way Data Fiduciaries (i.e. persons who determines the purpose and means of processing
On 02 August 2023, the Indian Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 (Bill), which proposes to amend and/ or decriminalise 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 different Ministries/ Departments, with the aim of boosting the ease of doing business as well as ease
On 6 April 2023, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 (Amendment Rules), primarily for online real money games, to amend the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT
Below are certain legal and regulatory developments in India, during 2022, which provide a snapshot on the pace with which the Government of India (GoI) is bringing in reforms to contribute to a strong and robust economy: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, GoI (MCA): notified amendments to the Limited Liability
The Finance Minister of India, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 on 1 February 2023 (Budget), which draws the blueprint for India @100, presenting a vision for ‘Amrit Kaal’ (the best and the most auspicious time), for an empowered and inclusive economy for a prosperous India.
The Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) on 22 August 2022 notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investment) Rules, 2022 (Overseas Investment Rules) and Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investment) Regulations, 2022 (Overseas Investment Regulations) in supersession of Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of
India has recently enacted a new legislation viz. The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act, 2015 (“Act”) which is deemed to have come into force from 23 October 2015. Some salient features of the Act are:
· “Commercial dispute” has been defined to include, inter-alia, any dispute related to transactions between merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents including enforcement and interpretation of such documents, construction and infrastructure contracts, including tenders,
The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015 (“Bill”) was passed by the Indian Parliament on 23 December 2015 and is deemed to have come into force on 23 October 2015. Some salient features of the Bill are:
“Commercial dispute” has been defined to include, inter-alia, any dispute related to transactions between merchants, bankers, financiers and traders such as those relating to mercantile documents including enforcement and interpretation of such documents, construction and infrastructure contracts,
The Government of India has vide Press Note No. 12 dated 24 November 2015 introduced a number of amendments to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy across various sectors, which include enhancing sectoral caps, opening sectors for foreign investment, bringing additional activities under the automatic investment route and generally easing conditions for foreign investment and doing business in India.
The Supreme Court in the case of Dashrath Rupsingh Rathod v. State of Maharashtra and another ((2014) 9 SCC 129) held that “the territorial jurisdiction is restricted to the Court within whose local jurisdiction the offence was committed, which in the present context is where the cheque is dishonoured by the bank on which it is drawn” as against the then prevalent practice of filing complaints under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (“Act”) before the court in whose jurisdiction the cheque was presented for payment.
The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance has:
vide a press release dated 1 July 2015 notified the compliance window under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. In this regard, all declarations in respect of undisclosed assets located outside India must be made on or before 30 September 2015 in order to avail the benefits of the compliance window. Once declared, tax and penalty in respect of the foreign assets so declared must be paid by 31 December 2015;
The Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), in line with its annual practice, has issued updated sets of Master Circulars on 01 July 2015 under various heads including banking regulation, co-operative banking, currency, financial markets, foreign exchange and payment systems which can be accessed on
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) vide a clarification dated 18 June 2015 has stipulated that in cases where a company has committed default in repayment of deposits which were accepted by such company before the commencement of the Companies Act, 2013 (the “Act”) (i.e. 1 April 2014), the depositors may seek remedy by filing an application (in accordance with section 73 (4) of the Act) with the Company Law Board.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (“DIPP“) has issued Press Note No. 7 (2015 Series) dated 3 June 2015 (“Press Note 7“) pursuant to which the ‘Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment Policy Circular of 2015′ dated 12 May 2015 (“FDI Policy”) relating to investments by Non-Resident Indians (“NRIs“), Overseas Citizen of India (“OCIs“) and Persons of Indian Origin (“PIOs“) has been amended.
As a measure to improve the ease of doing business in India, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) has issued an Integrated Incorporation Form which consolidates multiple forms required for the incorporation process into a single online application form – eForm INC-29. Consequently, with effect from 1 May 2015, persons looking to incorporate any class of companies (including public/ private limited companies, one person company but not including companies with charitable objects) may make an application to the concerned registrar of companies (“RoC”) in the prescribed eForm INC-29 online. Key features of the eForm INC-29 are as follows
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India has issued Press Note 4 of 2015 on 24 March 2015 amending the Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular of 2014 with immediate effect to permit 49% FDI in the pension sector. Within this limit FDI up to 26% is under the automatic route and above that up to 49% is under the Government route.
