Central Processing Centre to review corporate filings in time-bound, faceless manner

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs on February 16 announced a slew of measures that have been taken to ensure ease of doing business, including the establishment of the Central Processing Centre to review corporate filings.

“On the lines of continuous endeavour to provide Ease of Doing Business in pursuance to Union Budget Announcement 2023-24, Central Processing Centre (CPC) has been established to process forms filed as part of various regulatory requirements under Companies Act and Limited Liability Partnership Act (LLP Act) in a centralised manner, requiring no physical interaction with the stakeholders,” the ministry said in a release.

The CPC will process 12 forms/applications starting today, followed by other forms from April 1, 2024. It will process these applications in a time-bound and faceless manner on the lines of Central Registration Centre (CRC) and Centralised Processing for Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE), the Corporate Affairs Ministry added. Forms/applications filed under the LLP Act have also been proposed to be centralised.

“The Central Registration Centre (CRC), Centralised Processing for Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE), and CPC will ensure speedy processing of applications and forms filed for incorporation, closure and for meeting regulatory requirements so that the companies are incorporated, closed, can alter and raise capital, and are able to complete their various compliances under the corporate laws with ease,” the release stated.

As of now, 4,910 forms have been received by CPC after commencing operations. Based on filing trends, it is expected that about 2.50 lakh forms will be processed through CPC annually, once it is fully operational.

As per government data, consistent efforts taken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs towards ease of doing business have led to the highest number of incorporation of LLPs and companies compared to any of the previous financial years as of February 14, 2024.

Apart from establishing the CPC, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has also taken initiatives to ease entry in terms of quicker incorporation of companies. The CRC, for instance, was established for centralised, expeditious, transparent processing of applications filed for companies and LLPs for incorporation in non-STP (Straight Through Processing) mode.

“This has yielded desired results,” the ministry said, adding that during FY 2013-14, 1,02,063 companies and LLPs were incorporated, while during FY 2022-23, 1,95,586 companies and LLPs got incorporated, registering an increase of about 92 percent.

Similarly, the Centralised Processing for Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) was set up to expedite the voluntary closure of companies under the provisions of Section 248(2) of the Companies Act, 2013 from over two years to less than six months. Under C-PACE, applications filed for voluntary closure of companies are getting processed in non-STP within an average time of less than four months (about 100 days) compared to an average time of more than 18 months earlier. C-PACE has processed and closed 12,441 companies so far. Only 3,368 applications are pending with C-PACE, the lowest as compared to any previous year, the Corporate Affairs Ministry pointed out.

Notably, the processing of applications at the CRC and the C-PACE also does not require any physical interaction with the stakeholders.