The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India (MCA) through its notification dated 15 June 2021, notified the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Amendment Rules, 2021 (Amendment Rules) to further amend the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014 (Rules).
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and increase in remote working modes, the MCA has, over the past year, issued various relaxations from compliances to ease the impact of disruptions and difficulties faced by the companies, including permitting conducting general meetings through video conferencing (VC) or other audio-visual means.
Consequently, the matters prescribed in erstwhile rule 4(1) of the Rules, were earlier permitted to be dealt with through VC or other audio-visual means as an exception, only until 30 June 2021. However, the Amendment Rules provide permanent relaxation for the companies whereby they are now permitted to continue dealing with the following matters through VC and other audio-visual means, without restriction of any time period:
- approval of the annual financial statements;
- approval of the Board’s report;
- approval of the prospectus;
- Audit Committee meetings for consideration of accounts; and
- approval of the matters relating to amalgamation, merger, demerger, acquisition, and takeover.
The Amendment Rules may be accessed at: