Action taken against 271 companies in last three years to safeguard investors: Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday, said that action has been initiated against 95 companies in 2016-17, 101 companies in 2017-18 and 75 companies in 2018-19 under various provisions of the Companies Act in order to redress investors 'grievances.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday stated that action has been initiated against 95 companies in 2016-17, 101 companies in 2017-18 and 75 companies in 2018-19 under various provisions of the Companies Act in order to redress investors 'grievances.

Sitharaman said this in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Citing rules, Sitharaman stated that Section 178(5) and 178(6) of the Companies Act, 2013 mandates that every company having more than 1,000 shareholders, debenture holders, deposit holders and any other security holders shall constitute a Stakeholders Relationship Committee to consider and resolve the grievances of the security holders of the company, read a statement.

Moreover, to safeguard small investors trading in exchanges in stocks of companies that default on payment, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in last three years, has initiated action against 22 companies under section 15-I (Adjudication Proceedings) of the SEBI Act, 1992 and against 211 companies under section 11B (Issue of Directions to Companies) of the SEBI Act, 1992, Sitharaman said.

She further informed that during the financial year 2018-19, SEBI has received 2,453 complaints for non-payment of dues and resolved 2,746 complaints which include complaints pertaining to previous years also.