Shell companies crackdown: Over 3 lakh directors disqualified; 2.25 lakh cos struck off

New Delhi: More than 3 lakh persons have been disqualified for holding the post of director at registered companies for failing to comply with regulatory requirements, the government said on Monday. Under the Companies Act, directors of companies that fail to file financial statements or annual returns among others for three consecutive financial years are disqualified. [caption id=“attachment_4260459” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “On account of operation of Section 164 read with the section 167 of the Companies Act, 2013 a total of 3,09,619 directors have been identified as disqualified directors up to November 30, 2017,” Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Further, nearly 2.25 lakh companies have been struck-off for remaining inactive for a period of two years or more. “Registrars of Companies (RoCs) have removed 2,24,733 companies…up to 30 November, 2017 after following the due process under Section 248 of the Companies Act,” Chaudhary added. Section 248 provides powers to RoCs 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. However, it is not clear whether the government identified the existence of such companies post demonetisation.