Set up team to resolve MCA21 portal glitches: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has directed the ministry of corporate affairs to form a special team to look into public grievances arising due to glitches in the MCA21 portal on priority, after conducting a review on Tuesday.

The FM acknowledged that many users of the MCA21 portal had reported technical issues at the time of filing, since the launch of new forms under version 3.

The latest version was launc­hed on January 23. The FM said in a tweet that the corporate affairs ministry is working with Larsen and Toubro’s LTIMindtree, which manages the portal, consultants EY India, and National Institute for Smart Government to solve the matter.

Government is also taking feedback from professional bodies of chartered accountants and company secretaries.

A government official said that there are teething troubles since a new system has been launched and they will be resolved soon. The official also said that since MCA has made the registration process more rigorous with every person who registers required to provide PAN, authenticate digital signatures, unlike before it has added to their problems.

“Now you cannot have multiple userIDs linked to one unknown entity’s email ID. We have taken action to stop the incorporation of shell companies. This is creating problems for some,” an official said.

Government has migrated about 85 forms to the new version of the MCA21 portal. About 40 more forms are to be shifted to the new portal once the system stabilises, the senior official said.

While many company secretaries have been raising issues of technical glitches on the new website, MCA officials have said that the new system has been working and has not been shut down.

The new version 3 is a data analytics-driven system that is designed to not just make filings for the companies easier but also enable early detection of lapses in filings.

Through an automated system, the government will keep a close watch on ratios such as debt to turnover, inventory to turnover, or loan to assets as early red flags.

MCA is expected to come up with its first analytical report based on the data collected from the new portal soon.

As part of the Version 3 of MCA21, a MCA LAB is being set up, which will consist of corporate law experts to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.