General Exemption Under Section 211 of the Companies Act 1956 Notified

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued today a notification on General Exemption under Section 211 of the Companies Act 1956. The notification reads as under:

General Exemption under Section 211

Section 211 of the Companies Act, 1956 requires that the balance sheet and profit and loss account of a company shall be in the form set out in Part I of Schedule VI or in such other form as may be approved by the Central Government either generally or in any particular case.  The Ministry has been regularly receiving requests for exemption from various classes of companies from the disclosure of certain quantitative details required under Schedule VI.  So far, these exemptions were being given on a case-by-case basis with certain conditions. 

2.         These requirements date back to the era when there was industrial licensing etc., and there was a regulatory purpose in monitoring quantitative aspects of production etc.  Their relevance in the present economic and regulatory environment has been re-assessed.  Such disclosures are not required in other countries.  Indian companies have represented that such disclosure puts Indian companies at a competitive disadvantage where their details are known to foreign competitors, but they cannot get the details from the other side. 

3.         Accordingly, the Central Government has, by notification, issued a general exemption whereby the categories of companies in column (2) of the Table below will be exempted from the disclosures given in column 3:-