Company secretaries upset over new rules; seek changes

ICSI, the apex body of company secretaries, has urged the government to immediately make changes to rules related to their profession in the new companies law.
Upset over the new rules, which have been notified, hundreds of ICSI members also staged a protest today before Shastri Bhavan here, the building that houses the Corporate Affairs Ministry.
The Ministry is implementing the Companies Act, 2013.
Raising their concerns, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has written to the Ministry urging that it should immediately modify certain rules.
"I request you to kindly the rules immediately to require appointment of company secretary by every company as contemplated under the (Companies) Act and thereby strengthen governance and compliance in every company in public interest," ICSI President R Sridharan said in a communication to the Ministry.

As per the notified rules, public companies with paid up capital of up to Rs 10 crore as well as all private firms have been exempted from having a company secretary.
In the draft rules, the threshold was kept at Rs 5 crore or more.
Among others, ICSI has also demanded that secretarial audit should be made applicable to those "companies which are at least subject to internal audit".