Decision follows suggestions by a panel which wants breaches to be treated as civil offences, backs penalties
The government will not operationalise the new corporate social responsibility (CSR) provisions in the recently amended Companies Act that make violations punishable by jail, following intense lobbying by a panicked India Inc.
The government will not issue follow-up rules required to implement the provisions that had drawn sharp criticism.
“These changes will not be commenced,” a senior government. The decision follows recommendations by a high-level committee on CSR that submitted its report on Tuesday to finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It suggested that violations should be regarded as civil offences that are liable to monetary penalties along with a number of other suggestions to make CSR provisions more effective and less burdensome for companies. In light of the recommendations by the committee, the government won’t proceed with the new rules, said the official cited above.
