ROC Delhi Imposes Penalty for Non-Compliance with Registered Office Requirements u/s 12(8)
The Registrar of Companies (ROC), NCT of Delhi and Haryana, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), has recently issued an Adjudication Order imposing a penalty on Rakshit Motor and General Finance Limited and its four directors, under Section 454(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 Read With Rule 3 of the Companies (Adjudication of Penalties) Rules, 2014 for violation of Section 12(1) of the Companies Act, 2013.
Rakshit Motor and General Finance Limited is a registered company, which possesses an office under the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013/1956 and is located at 1-2, 27/1, Near Som Bazar, Sangam Vihar, South Delhi, 110062 according to the MCA-21 registry. The company falls under the category of small company under Section 2(85) of the Companies Act, 2013, as the paid-up capital of the company is Rs. 16,360,000.
On May 02, 2016, the company received a complaint from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), alleging that when the RBI officials visited the registered location of the company, i.e., D-5, Office No. 11, 3rd Floor, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi – 110092, on March 29, 2016, to check its existence and NBFI activities and also obtain financial statements and other documents, the company was not found at its registered office.
This registered address was taken by the company through No. STA/Comp/3208-3213 dated 26.05.2016 and No. STA/Comp/4318/8478 dated 17.08.2016; however, both letters were received back undelivered from the registered office of the company.
This activity is considered a violation under Section 12(1) of the Companies Act for the period from 02.05.2016 to 11.05.2018, and is liable for a penalty under Section 12(8) of the Act. ROC issued a show cause notice (SCN) to the company and its officers in default on February 06, 2017. Directors legally filed a reply to the SCN, but the response was not satisfactory.
Thereafter, on May 29, 2017, ROC issued a “Notice of Inquiry” to the accused company and directors/Officers, and directed them to appear personally or through an authorised representative on June 09, 2017, at 12.00 Noon. However, no one attended the personal hearing. The date of the personal hearing was fixed; however, no one appeared on the date of the final hearing either.
Considering all the above facts, ROC imposed a penalty of Rs. 50,000 on Rakshit Motor and General Finance Limited and Rs. 2 Lakh on its four directors (Hira Lal Arora, Anik Dey, Anwar Ahmad Siddiqui and Ritesh Kumar), Rs. 50,000 each. The total amount of the penalty was Rs. 1 Lakh on the company and Rs. 1 Lakh on each director; however, the company falls under the category of a small firm under Section 2(85) of the Companies Act, 2013; hence, the entire penalty amount was reduced to half.
Refer to the official Adjudication Order for complete information.
