Company affairs get paperless from April 30

Officials at the 20 registrar of companies (RoC) offices in India are likely to be a relieved lot. In about a year's time, they would no longer have to deal with an annual deluge of 60 million sheets of paper when 6 lakh companies make their annual filings.

MCA21, an e-governance initiative of the ministry of company affairs (MCA), is to be rolled out across all RoCs by April 30.

Electronic filing of documents is the key feature of MCA21, which aims to bring about a paperless environment, shorten the time taken by the MCA to provide services, and provide greater transparency.

MCA21 couldn't be more timely. There were around 30,000 companies in 1956, and today about 6 lakh companies file about 100 pages of information every year. The number is only bound to increase.

The whole project has cost the government Rs 345 crore, of which Rs 314 crore went to Tata Consultancy Services for implementing the project. TCS will also provide support to the project for six more years.

The RoC at Coimbatore was last year chosen as the first centre for the project's implementation. The phased timeline for the project's implementation has provided room for solutions to operational problems observed in Coimbatore. The next rollout of MCA 21 will be in New Delhi on March 18. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to inaugurate this phase.

The MCA stands to reap considerable benefits soon. RoCs, for instance, have to maintain a company's records for seven years. Under MCA21, company filings from 2003-04 have been digitised.

In another four years, RoCs would have the required legacy data in electronic form. An immediate benefit would be an end to demand for more space from different sections, said government officials.

Companies, the key stakeholders in the project, would be spared the need to send people to RoCs for the annual filing. While the larger companies have the means to deal with the transition, a number of smaller companies might face problems.

The MCA has arranged for a transitory mechanism in the form of physical front offices (PFOs). MCA has arranged for 53 PFOs to help companies for three years to make the electronic filings.

An integral part of MCA21 is an electronic tracking system for companies' directors called director identification number.