Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman (File Photo- PIB)
New Delhi: Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday virtually launched Central Scrutiny Centre (CSC) and Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority’s (IEPFA) Mobile App — two tech-enabled initiatives by Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). These initiatives leverage to strengthen the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digitally empowered India’. Rajesh Verma, Secretary, MCA, and other senior officials attended the virtual launch event.
Announcing the launch of new initiatives, Sitharaman said, “These two initiatives would create a new corporate and investor friendly ecosystem. Going forward, MCA would bring in more tech-enabled services for ease of doing business and ease of living for the people.”
Sitharaman further added that the multiple initiatives taken by the MCA in past couple of years has promoted Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in India.
The increase in number of incorporation of Companies in India even during the COVID-19 pandemic is the result of initiatives like introduction of integrated form SPICe+ & Agile Pro for incorporation of Companies, which has provided one stop solutions to promoters desirous of setting up a business entity in India, said a government release.
This year till February 2021, about 1.38 lakhs companies have been incorporated as compared to about 1.16 lakhs companies in the corresponding period of last year by Central Registration Centre, an increase of over 17%, the minister added.
The Finance Minister said that the Central Scrutiny Centre will scrutinize certain Straight Through Process (STP) Forms filed by the corporates on the MCA21 registry and flag the companies for more in-depth scrutiny.
The Finance Minister also launched the IEPFA Mobile App. During the launch the Finance Minister said, “The Mobile App aims at achieving the goal of financial literacy, spreading investors’ awareness, education, and protection among investors. Our prime goal here is to push Ease of Living.”
The release said that the IEPFA App will have the facility of tracking the status and progress of the IEPF claim refund process. Moreover, it also provides a mechanism for investors and common citizens to report on the suspected fraudulent schemes. Currently, the app is available on Android based devises and can be downloaded from PlayStore. (PR)
