Govt set to launch MCA21 V3 in FY22; in-depth scrutiny of filings, e-adjudication system on anvil

PTI, Feb 5, 2021, 5:12 PM IST

New Delhi: In-depth scrutiny of filings, a compliance management system to identify non-compliant companies and LLPs, and e-adjudication of various proceedings will be facilitated by the corporate affairs ministry’s latest version of MCA21 portal, set to be launched next fiscal.

Aided by artificial intelligence and machine learning, the third version of MCA21 – a portal for submitting various filings under the companies law and LLP Act – will have ”micro-services architecture with high scalability and capabilities for advanced analytics.”

MCA21 V3 will have additional modules for e-adjudication, e-consultation and Compliance Management System (CMS).

The project is envisioned ”to strengthen enforcement, promote ease of doing business, enhance user experience, facilitate seamless integration and data exchange among regulators,” the ministry said in a release on Friday.

Noting that MCA21 V3 is envisioned to transform the corporate regulatory environment in India, the ministry said it will also have a cognitive chatbot enabled helpdesk, mobile apps and interactive user dashboards, among other features.

L&T Infotech will be operating the MCA21 V3 and is likely to be launched in October this year, according to an official.

The ministry is in the process of setting up a Central Scrutiny Cell that will scrutinise certain Straight Through Process (STP) forms filed by the corporates on the MCA21 registry and flag the companies for more in-depth scrutiny.

E-adjudication module – conceptualised to manage the increased volume of adjudication proceedings by Registrar of Companies (RoC) and Regional Directors (RDs) – will facilitate end-to-end digitisation of the process of adjudication for the ease of users.

It will provide a platform for conducting online hearings with stakeholders and end-to-end adjudication electronically, the release said.

To automate and enhance the current process of public consultation on proposed amendments and draft rules, e-consultation module of MCA21 V3 will provide an online platform.

”Further, the system will also facilitate AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven sentiment analysis, consolidation and categorisation of stakeholders’ inputs and creation of reports on the basis thereof, for reference of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA),” the release said.

The CMS will assist the ministry in identifying non-compliant companies/ limited liability partnerships (LLPs), issuing e-notices to the defaulting companies/LLPs and generating alerts for internal users of the ministry.

The CMS will serve as a technology platform/ solution for conducting rule-based compliance checks and undertaking enforcement drives wherein e-notices will be issued for the effective administration of corporates.

Besides, the ministry as part of MCA21 V3 will set up an MCA Lab, which will consist of corporate law experts.

”The primary function of MCA Lab will be to evaluate the effectiveness of CMS, e-consultation module, enforcement module, etc. and suggest enhancements to the same on an on-going basis.

”The Lab will help MCA in ensuring the correctness of results produced by these key modules in view of the dynamic corporate ecosystem,” the release said.