MCA ties up TCS for e-governance

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Mumbai, Apr 24 (UNI) The Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today launched MCA-21, an e-governance initiative under the National e-Governance Plan designed to enable anywhere, anytime secure electronic filing for MCA transactions.

Addressing a distinguished gathering on the occasion, MCA Secretary Komal Anand said that ''the focus of the MCA-21 programme is to bringing about a fine balance of stakeholder requirements, between facilitation and control, as a blend of well-defined goals and performance metrics.'' Describing the project as a ''pioneering e-governance initiative,'' implemented at a cost of Rs 343 crore and completed in 60 weeks, is aimed at benefiting Indian companies, especially the SMEs immensely, Ms. Anand said adding that its benefit to businesses lay in the fact that it would enable registration of a company and filing statutory documents quickly and easily in a convenient manner.

The general public and professionals would be benefited as it would enable the former to easily access relevant records and get their grievances redressed effectively while enabling professionals offer efficient services to their client companies.

''Financial institutions will find registration and verification of charges easy while the MCA can ensure proactive and effective compliance of relevant laws and corporate governance,'' she said.

All work can now be done online and a company can be incorporated within just one-and-a-half days or even earlier,'' she said, adding that the MCA-21 programme will ensure transparency as all data will be available on-screen.

Working on 24x7x365 basis, the programme ensures adaptation of a new set of electronic forms or e-forms leading to a reduction in the total number of forms besides elimination of repetitive data in each of the e-forms besides use of digital signatures to ensure the security of electronic forms and documents in conformance with the IT Act, 2000.

Ms. Anand said that the MCA-21 also provides convenient methods of payment that will encompass electronic payment options using credit cards and Internet banking in 200 bank branches across the country.

''Five banks--PNB, SBI, Indian Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank--have been selected for the purpose,'' she revealed.

Stating that nearly six crore pages of legacy corporate documents will be digitised for electronic access through the internet, Ms.

Anand said that the Ministry of Company Affairs has entered into a six-year contract with TCS for this project and that TCS would run the front-office operations for the first three years.

Fifty three such physical front offices will be located country-wide which will provide facilitation services for electronic filing, she said, adding that this project will also facilitate easy reporting of complaints by investors through the MCA portal for easy and speedy redressal.

Regarding liquidation proceedings of companies, she said that work on this project has been started this year and a tender for contracting this work on the lines of MCA-21 would be initiated soon. ''This project too would be in the range of Rs 350 crore, she averred.

''We are waiting for the amended Companies Act to be passed by Parliament before going full-steam ahead on this project, she announced, adding that the nation-wide roll-out of MCA-21 is scheduled to be completed by end-May 2006.

UNI JJ PP AG1644

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