CSR non-compliance: Prosecution sanctioned in 366 cases

The government has sanctioned prosecution in 366 cases for non-compliance with CSR norms under the companies law during the 2014-15 period.

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur Monday said in the Lok Sabha that India is the first country in the world to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory for all profit making companies meeting certain threshold under the Companies Act, 2013.

In 2014-15, as many as 16,785 companies shelled out Rs 10,065.93 crore towards CSR activities.

During the Question Hour, Thakur said the entire CSR architecture is disclosure-based and companies are required to file CSR initiatives in annual filings to the corporate affairs ministry.

The ministry has also set up the centralised scrutiny and prosecution mechanism to monitor compliance with CSR norms.

"So far, sanction for prosecution has been accorded in 366 cases for FY 2014-15 and 5,382 call for information notices have been issued in FY 2015-16.

"All CSR-related offences are compoundable. So far, 60 applications for compounding have been received," Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply.

In 2017-18, as many as 3,117 companies spent Rs 8,365.35 crore towards CSR activities, as per data up to October 20, 2018.

"Given that the obligation under the CSR provisions has been in existence from FY 2014-15 only, there has been considerable progress both in terms of number of companies contributing to CSR and overall CSR spent," Sitharaman said in the written reply.