Over 1.62 lakh shell companies deregistered; over half from Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad

New Delhi: More than 1.62 lakh companies not carrying out business for long have been deregistered, with Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad together accounting for more than half of such firms, the government told Parliament on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_3907651” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] “After following the due process under Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013, 1,62,618 companies were removed from the register of the companies as of 12 July, 2017,” Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. Section 248 provides powers to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to remove the name of a company from the register on various grounds, including that the entity was not carrying out any business for two preceding financial years. Out of the 1,62,618 companies that have been struck off the register, a total of 76,451 firms were cancelled by RoCs Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad put together. Individually, RoC (Mumbai) has cancelled registration of 33,000 companies, RoC (Delhi) 22,863 and RoC (Hyderabad) 20,588 firms, Meghwal said. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said 37,000 shell companies indulging in tax evasion had been detected and more than three lakh firms were under the scanner for suspicious dealings, post demonetisation. “The government has cancelled registration of over 1 lakh companies in a single stroke and more than 37,000 shell firms have been identified for strong action,” he had said.