The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made significant changes in the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016. The application process for removing a company’s name from the Register of Companies has been amended along with revision in the formats of Forms STK-2, 6 & 7.
MCA Portal Update (April 21, 2023):
In order to better serve you, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will launch STK-2 form along with C-PACE functionality on May 1, 2023 at 12:00 AM. Stakeholders should keep the following points in mind to help with the implementation of this form in the V3 MCA21 portal:
(1) The STK-2 form on the V2 portal will be unavailable from April 28th 11:59 PM to April 30th 11:59 PM, with a planned roll-out on May 1st, 2023 at 12:00 AM.
(2) All stakeholders are advised to check that no SRNs are in the pending payment or resubmission status.
(3) Offline payments via the Pay Later option would be unavailable in STK-2 V2. You are required to pay for these forms in V2 online (via credit/debit card or net banking).
(4) Due to the STK-2 form roll-out, the V3 portal will be unavailable for filing all Company/LLP forms from April 30th (03:00 PM) to May 1st (12:00 AM).
(5) Throughout this time period, the V2 Portal for company filing will be available for all forms currently in the V2 system (except STK-2).
Recent Amendments in Companies Name Removal Rules
The Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2016, provides the procedure for removing the name of a company from the Register of Companies. The Rules were first introduced in 2016, and they have been revised by the MCA from time to time.
Recently, the MCA has made significant changes vide the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2023, effective May 1, 2023 wtih regard to the application process for removing a company’s name from the Register of Companies.
According to the amendment notification, an application for removing the name of a company from the Register of Companies must be made to the Registrar, Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) in Form No. STK-2. The application must be accompanied by a fee of Rs 10,000/-. Additionally, the Registrar, Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit, established under sub-section (1) of section 396, shall be the Registrar of Companies for the purposes of exercising functional jurisdiction of processing and disposal of applications made in Form STK-2 and all matters related thereto under section 248 having territorial jurisdiction all over India.
About Forms STK-2, 6 & 7
Form STK-2: This is a form which can used by a company for applying to the Registrar of Companies for removing its name from the Register of Companies. This form needs to be filled out and submitted along with the fee of Rs 10,000/-.
Form STK-6: This is a format which is used for prescribed Public Notice. Once the Registrar of Companies receives the application in Form STK-2, they will publish a public notice in Form STK-6 on the MCA website and in at least one English newspaper and one vernacular newspaper.
Form STK-7: This form is used for issuing notice of striking off and dissolution. After the expiry of three months from the date of publication of the public notice in Form STK-6, the Registrar of Companies may strike off the name of the company from the Register of Companies and issue a notice of striking off and dissolution in Form STK-7.
Conclusion
If you are planning to dissolve your company or remove its name from the Register of Companies, it is important to follow the revised process as per the Companies (Removal of Names of Companies from the Register of Companies) Rules, 2023. The changes in the application process and the revised formats of Forms STK-2, 6 & 7 need to be carefully adhered to for efficient processing of the name removal request.
MCA Notification dated 17/04/2023: Companies Name Removal Rules Amended and Forms STK 2, 6 & 7 revised
Great job! This amendment provides that Registrar, C-PACE shall be the Registrar of Companies (ROC) having functional jurisdiction of processing and disposal of applications made in Form STK-2 and all matters related thereto. This will provide expeditious approval of applications filed by companies which intend voluntarily to close operations and reduce stress on the registry to keep it clean. It will also benefit stakeholders by providing a hassle-free filing process and timely and process-bound removal of their company’s names from the register. The setting up of C-PACE is part of several measures taken by the MCA towards ease of doing business and ease of exit for companies.
How to resubmit the STK 2 form in V3?