MCA sets up Central Scrutiny Centre- Now STP (Straight Through Process) E-Forms filed with ROC will be under Scrutiny

Ministry of corporate affairs issued a notification announcing that all the E-Forms that are filed by the companies under the STP (Straight Through Processes) shall be under scrutiny of the Government directly. For this purpose the MCA has also set up a Central Scrutiny Centre (CSC) for carrying out the scrutiny of STP E-Forms filed under the Companies Act 2013 by the companies.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is said to have taken this step to take the advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the complexity of the corporate compliance and take action upon the companies and professionals that are at default.

Functioning of Central Scrutiny Centre

• The Central Scrutiny Centre shall function under the administrative control of the E-Governance Cell of the MCA.
• It will be the prime function of the CSC to carry out the scrutiny of the ROC E-Forms.
• The CSC shall, after conducting the scrutiny, wherever required, forward the findings of such scrutiny to the concerned Jurisdictional ROC to take the further actions under the Provisions of the Companies Act and the Rules made thereunder.
• It will be the primary function of the CSC to check whether all the compliance required for filing the said forms are in place and all the required details and documents have been attached or not.
• The Central Scrutiny Centre will be set up at the Indian Institute of the Corporate Affairs i.e. IICA which is located at Plot No. 6-7-8, Sector 5, IMT Manesar, District, Gurgaon (Haryana), PIN Code- 122050

This notification came in to force from 23rd March 2021. Hence, All the STP (Straight Through Process) E-Forms filed with ROC are now set under the scrutiny of the Government. Now it would be a benefit for the fillers as the wait of indefinite period which was taken by the Registrar after filing the forms, will get over and the time limit shall be specified for scrutiny of STP E-Forms. This will bring a certainty and clarity in the process of STP E-Forms filings.

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