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Industry associations decide not to conduct AGMs online

The State government has written to some of the industrial associations here saying that it cannot permit them to conduct virtual annual general meetings because of some of the mandatory requirements under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act.

The State government has given time till the end of December for the associations registered under the Societies Act to conduct the annual meetings. With the lockdown restrictions in place and the spread of COVID-19, the associations appealed again to the Government seeking permission to conduct online meetings.

In a communication dated September 1, the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department has said that the quorum is mandatory to adopt resolutions at the annual meeting. Further, physical presence of a specific number of members is also a must. After the AGM, the Registrar has to verify the signature of the people who passed a resolution with that of the earlier filings and election of office bearers or passing financial statements involves voting. There can be claims and counter claims regarding participation of some members. And, secrecy cannot be maintained if voting is doing online.

Hence, it will not be possible to permit virtual annual general meetings, the communication said.

The associations here that are registered under the Societies Act and that have already postponed the AGMs because of this, plan to conduct the meetings next month if the lockdown restrictions are lifted.

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