THE COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2015 – HIGHLIGHTS

THE COMPANIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2015

After implementation of New Companies Act 2014, the Government has made changes in provisions of the New Companies Act 2014 and published “Companies Amendment Act 2015” on 25.05.2015.  This Act came into force on 26.05.2015. The amendment has been made in the requirement of paid up capital, common seal, filing e-form INC-21 with the Registrar for commencement of business,  passing of special resolutions in certain cases and many more requirements which shall not apply henceforth.

Following is the list of comparison between the changed provisions.

Sr. No.	Amendment to Sections	The Companies Act, 2013	The Companies Amendment Act 2015
1	Section 2 Clause 68	Definition of Private Limited Private limited company means company “having minimum paid up share capital of one lakh rupees” or such higher paid up share capital	(i) in clause (68), the words “of one lakh rupees or such higher paid-up share  capital” shall be omitted
2.	Section 2Clause 71	Definition of Public company Private limited company means company which  (a) is not a private limited (b) has a minimum paid up share capital of five lakh rupees or such higher paid up share capital	(ii) in clause (71), in sub-clause (b), the words “of five lakh rupees or such higher paid-up capital,” shall be omitted.
3.	Section  9	Effect of registration	the words “and a common seal” shall be omitted.
4.	Section 11	Commencement of business The company shall be required to file e-form 21 before commencement of business or exercising its borrowing powers.	Section 11 of the principal Act, shall be omitted Filing of e-form 21 with Registrar of company before the commencement of business or exercising its borrowing powersis not required.
5.	Section 12	Registered office of company clause 3(b)“have its name engraved in legible characters on its seal”	In section 12 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), for clause (b), the followingclause shall be substituted, namely:—“(b) have its name engraved in legible characters on its seal, if any;”.
6.	Section 22	Execution of bills of exchange Refer sub-section (2) of Companies Act 2014 which reads as follows : (2) A company may, by writing under its common seal,authorise any person, either generally or in respect of any specified matters, as its attorney to execute other deeds on its behalf in any place either in or outside India;3) A deed signed by such an attorney on behalf of the company and under his seal shall bind the company and have the effect as if it were made under its common seal.	In section 22 of the principal Act,—(i) in sub-section (2),—(a) for the words “under its common seal”, the words “under its common seal, if any,” shall be substituted;(b) the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—“Provided that in case a company does not have a common seal, the authorisation under this sub-section shall be made by two directors or by a director and the Company Secretary, wherever the company has appointed a Company Secretary.”(ii) in sub-section (3), the words ‘‘and have the effect as if it were made under its common seal” shall be omitted.
7.	Section 46	Certificate of shares Clause (1) of Section 46 read as follows(1) A certificate, issued under the common seal of the company, specifying the shares held by any person, shall be prima facie evidence of the title of the person to suchshares.	In section 46 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the words “issued under the common seal of the company”, the words “issued under the common seal, if any, of the company or signed by two directors or by a director and the Company Secretary, wherever the company has appointed a Company  Secretary” shall be substituted.
8.	Section 76	Acceptance of deposits from public by certain companies Earlier Section 76A section was not implemented.	Section 76A after Section 76 is inserted Where a company accepts or invites or allows or causes any other person to accept or invite on its behalf any deposit in contravention of the manner or the conditions prescribed under section 73 or section 76 or rules made thereunder or if a company fails to repay the deposit or part thereof or any interest due thereon within the time specified under section 73 or section 76 or rules made thereunder or such further time as may be allowed by the Tribunal under section 73,—(a) the company shall, in addition to the payment of the amount of deposit or part thereof and the interest due, be punishable with fine which shall not be less than one crore rupees but which may extend to ten crore rupees; and(b) every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to seven years or with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five lakh rupees but which may extend to two crore rupees, or with both:Provided that if it is proved that the officer of the company who is in default, has contravened such provisions knowingly or wilfully with the intention to deceivethe company or its shareholders or depositors or creditors or tax authorities, he shall be liable for action under section 447.”.
9.	117	Resolutions and agreements to be filedSub section (3) (g) the resolutions passed in pursuance of sec section (3) of Section 179 and	In section 117 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3),—(i) in clause (g), the word ‘‘and’’ occuring at the end shall be omitted;(ii) after clause (g), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—“Provided that no person shall be entitled under section 399 to inspect orobtain copies of such resolutions; and”.
10.	123	Declaration of Dividend There were only three proviso.	In section 123 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—“Provided also that no company shall declare dividend unless carried over previous losses and depreciation not provided in previous year or years are set off against profit of the company for the current year.”