Govt orders probe into 'true ownership' of 68 firms

The government has ordered probe into the 'true ownership' of as many as 68 companies for depositing and withdrawing large sums during demonetisation, Union Minister P P Chaudhary said.
"Based on information received from banks, the central government has ordered investigations into the true ownership of 68 companies...which have deposited Rs 25 crore or more in bank accounts and withdrew in an exceptional manner post demonetisation," Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
"The investigations are underway," he added.
Prior to demonetisation, the number of registered companies stood at 16.08 lakh. However, over 2.26 lakh firms have been de-registered for not filing the requisite returns under the Companies Act for two or more years. While over three lakh directors have also been barred from taking up board positions.

Registrar of Companies (ROCs) have identified 2.97 lakh companies during 2017-18 which were not filing their financial statements or annual returns for a continuous period of two or more fiscals and, prima facie, were not conducting any business in operations,
"Out of such identified companies, ROCs have removed the names of 2,26,166 such companies as on December 19, 2017 from the register of companies by following the due process under Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013," Chaudhary, who is the minister of state for corporate affairs, said.
Section 248 of the Companies Act which is implemented by the corporate affairs ministry provides powers to strike off names of companies from the register on various grounds including for being inactive for long.