'No need for RoC sub centres due to MCA21 implementation'

New Delhi, Mar 9 (UNI) The government today said there was no need to open any more sub centres of Registrar of Companies (RoC) in Gujarat other than the one in Ahmedabad following implementation of the e-Governance programme called MCA21 last year.

''There were no complaints of companies facing difficulties in registering their names due to non-availability of sub centre of RoC in Jamnagar, Rajkot and Surat in Gujarat,'' Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said under the e-Governance programme, companies and professionals can file all documents online using the MCA21 portal from their offices or homes at any time, or from anywhere as per their convenience.

Noting that geographical distances do not pose any problem for transacting businesses with the RoC, the Minister said notwithstanding this, there is a full-fledged office of RoC for Ahmedabad and in order to facilitate transition from manual mode of operations to e-Governance mode, facilitation centres have been set-up under the MCA21 e-Governance Project at Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Kandla SEZ. These provide facilities of e-filing of documents to the stakeholders without any charge.

Over and above this, a total of 29 Certified Filing Centres (CFCs), managed and operated by professionals, have also been approved for the state, Mr Gupta said.

About 80 per cent of the documents are being filed by the stakeholders nationwide directly using the MCA21 portal, without availing any assistance from the Facilitation Centres or CFCs.

Replying to another question, the Minister said the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has, in principle, decided to set up Centres of Excellence in various places.

No Centres of Excellence has been set up by the Institute so far, he said adding that no time frame has been fixed for the purpose.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has recommended filing of criminal cases against M/s Bonanza Biotech Ltd and M/s Design Auto Systems Ltd for violation of Company Law and breach of IPC provisions, he told the house in reply to another question.

UNI