Govt gives more time to companies for holding annual general meetings

Companies will get an additional time of two months beyond September to conduct their annual general meetings for the fiscal year ended March 2021.

The corporate affairs ministry has asked Registrars of Companies (RoCs) to give two more months to companies for holding their Annual General Meetings (AGMs).

Under the companies law, corporates are required to hold AGMs within six months from the end of a financial year. For the fiscal year ended March 2021, AGMs were to be conducted by September 30 and now that deadline has been extended.

The ministry has advised RoCs to accord approval for extending time by two months beyond the due date by which companies are required to conduct AGMs for 2020-21, according to a communication dated September 23.

The ministry has received representations seeking extension of time for holding AGMs for the last fiscal year, "citing many difficulties due to second wave of COVID-19 and consequent lockdown".

The communication is addressed to all the Regional Directors and RoCs under the ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act, 2013.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry had provided various relaxations, including in deadlines for submission of filings.