Amendments to Companies Act may not be necessary: Sitharaman

Corporate Affairs Ministry has already initiated various measures including minor as well as substantial changes to rules related to Act

Emphasising that good progress has been made in addressing concerns about new companies law, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said amendments to the Act might not even be necessary if stakeholders feel relieved with changes being made in the rules.

Sitharaman, who is the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, has been steering efforts of the Ministry in addressing concerns over the Companies Act, 2013 -- whose many provisions came into effect from April 1.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry, which is implementing the Act, has already initiated various measures, including minor as well as substantial changes to rules related to the Act.

"If all this (steps are) already on course and people feel the relief which is being offered with all these (changes), amendments may not even be necessary... That is the way in which we have perceived the whole process," Sitharaman told PTI in an interview here.

Asked whether the Ministry has set any time frame on possible amendments to the Act, she said the government would first wait for the impact of changes that are being made before taking a final view.

"... We have made a good progress in terms of addressing the concerns on Companies Act," the Minister said.

Many stakeholders have raised concerns over certain provisions of the new Act, that replaces the nearly six-decade old legislation.

According to her, the government would like to wait and see what impact the changes are having.

"... If the impact is a great sense of relief may be after six or seven months we would want to find out if amendments are at all necessary... But if at that time, if they (stakeholders) still think you have to do it, we will take a call then," Sitharaman said.