The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has released a amending the Companies (Adjudication of Penalties) Rules, 2014. This amendment provides that all proceedings before the adjudicating platform under the rules shall be in electronic mode only. This includes proceedings before both the adjudicating officer as well as the regional director.
The amendment adds rule 3A to provide for this change in operations. The government is to develop an e-adjudication platform for this purpose. All notices, document filing, hearings, marking attendance, passing orders, payment of penalties etc., are to be done through this e-adjudicating platform. The new amendment shall take effect on 16 September 2024.
The notification also clarifies that a notice shall be sent by post only when an email address is not available. In such a case, the address to be considered shall be the one which was last updated/intimated in the records and the officer will maintain an e-record of the same. In addition to this, where no postal address is available, the notice shall simply be placed on the e-adjudication platform itself.
The notification includes supporting annexure under the rules and is available on the ministry’s website.
