MCA plans to set up a IBC21 portal with data on bankruptcy proceedings

The project will be headed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and executed by an external agency, along the lines of the MCA21 portal

Plans are afoot to set up an IBC21 portal on the lines of the current MCA21 portal to create a repository of data related to insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings. 

The corporate affairs ministry (MCA) has approved the portal, which will also enable monitoring of the status of activities for each ongoing process, a senior government official told Business Standard.

A detailed project report is underway. The project will be headed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and executed by an external agency on lines of the MCA21 portal, which is being implemented by L&T Infotech.

The IBC21 would have all the information from the resolution professionals right from the time they get the consent for their appointment till the final plan is implemented.

“We should not have to ask anyone for information on, for instance, the process of expression of interest or why an auction failed. All this data needs to be available online. It will also help IBBI do its work better,” the senior official said.

IBBI, through its quarterly newsletters, provides information on a few key aspects, such as cases admitted, closed through approval, liquidation, settlement, or withdrawn. It also gives details of overall timelines for the number of cases that have crossed a certain number of days among some other data. However, granular details of the ongoing cases, hurdles they face and reasons behind them are only available to the government on request and at a gap of a few days.

For IBBI to do evidence-based research for making regulations for resolution professionals, much more extensive data needs to be created, the official said. If successfully implemented, the IBC portal could bring about a lot of transparency and better understa­nding of the Code. However, experts feel that it is a tall order.

“At a conceptual level it is a very good idea, but someone will have to sit and key in all that data. It would mean resolution professionals will have a bunch of new forms to fill. This will be a logistical challenge,” a senior IBC lawyer said.

He said 90 per cent of RPs are dealing with smaller cases and they do not have sufficient resources or a support mechanism to do this addit­ional work. “Lenders often do not give them money so they cannot go out to market and, hence, cannot find buy­ers. Day-to-day information updates may be difficult for them but event-based reporting can happen,” he said.

A major change brought about by the MCA21 portal was that it enabled online filings by companies. It also created easy access to information about companies, incorporations among other things which was physically not possible earlier.

“Any portal related to e-gover­nance in these times will be helpful. The government could think of using the IBC portal for dual purpose - filings while ensuring data protection and information about companies undergoing insolvency,” said Ankit Singhi, partner, Corporate Profes­sionals. 

A lot of such information if made available online can be of use not just for commercial but also academic purposes, experts said.