(1) A person shall not be eligible for appointment as a  of a , if —

(a) he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;

(b) he is an undischarged insolvent;

(c) he has applied to be adjudicated as an insolvent and his application is pending;

(d) he has been convicted by a court of any offence, whether involving moral turpitude , and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment for not less than six months and a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of expiry of the sentence:

Provided that if a person has been convicted of any offence and sentenced in respect thereof to imprisonment for a period of seven years or more, he shall not be eligible to be appointed as a director in any company;

(e) an order disqualifying him for appointment as a director has been passed by a court or and the order is in force;

(f) he has not paid any calls in respect of any of the company held by him, whether alone or jointly with others, and six months have elapsed from the last day fixed for the payment of the call;

(g) he has been convicted of the offence dealing with transactions under section 188 at any time during the last preceding five years; or

(h) he has not complied with sub-section (3) of section 152.

(2) who is or has been a director of a company which—

(a) has not filed for any continuous period of three ; or

(b) has failed to repay the deposits accepted by it or pay interest thereon or to redeem any  on the due date or pay interest due thereon or pay any dividend declared and such failure to pay or redeem continues for one year or more, shall be eligible to be re-appointed as a director of that company or appointed in other company for a period of five years from the date on which the said company fails to do so.

where a person is appointed as a director of a company which is in default of clause (a) or clause (b), he shall not incur the disqualification for a period of six months from the date of his appointment.

(3) A may by its  provide for any  for appointment as a director in addition to those specified in sub-sections (1) and (2):

the disqualifications referred to in clauses (d), (e) and (g) of sub-section (1) shall continue to apply even if the appeal or petition has been filed against the order of conviction or disqualification.

Provided that the disqualifications referred to in clauses (d), (e) and (g) of sub-section(1) shall not take effect—

(i) for thirty days from the date of conviction or order of disqualification;

(ii) where an appeal or petition is preferred within thirty days as aforesaid against the conviction resulting in sentence or order, until expiry of seven days from the date on which such appeal or petition is disposed off; or

(iii) where any further appeal or petition is preferred against order or sentence within seven days, until such further appeal or petition is disposed off.

1.1.2 – Companies (Specification of definitions details) Rules, 2014.

2. Definitions.—
(1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) “Act” means the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013);

(b) “Certifying Authority” for the purpose of Digital Signature Certificate means a person who has been granted a licence to issue a Digital Signature Certificate under section 24 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) and the Certified Filing Center (CFC) under the Act;

(c) “digital signature” means the digital signature as defined under clause (p) of subsection (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);

(d) “Digital Signature Certificate” means a Digital Signature Certificate as defined under clause (q) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act,2000 (21 of 2000);

(e) “Director Identification Number” (DIN) means an identification number allotted by the Central Government to any individual, intending to be appointed as director or to any existing director of a company, for the purpose of his identification as a director of a company;

Provided that the Director Identification Number (DIN) obtained by the individuals prior to the notification of these rules shall be the DIN for the purpose of the Companies Act, 2013:

Provided further that “Director Identification Number” (DIN) includes the Designated Partnership Identification Number (DPIN) issued under section 7 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 (6 of 2009) and the rules made thereunder;

(f) “e-Form” means a form in the electronic form as prescribed under the Act or the rules made thereunder and notified by the Central Government under the Act;

(g) “electronic Mail” means the message sent, received or forwarded in digital form using any electronic communication mechanism that the message so sent, received or forwarded is storable and retrievable;

(h) “electronic mode”, for the purposes of clause (42) of section 2 of the Act, means carrying out electronically based, whether main server is installed in India or not, including, but not limited to-

(i) business to business and business to consumer transactions, data interchange and other digital supply transactions;

(ii) offering to accept deposits or inviting deposits or accepting deposits or subscriptions in securities, in India or from citizens of India;

(iii) financial settlements, web based marketing, advisory and transactional services, database services and products, supply chain management;

(iv) online services such as telemarketing, telecommuting, telemedicine, education and information research; and

(v) all related data communication services, whether conducted by e-mail, mobile devices, social media, cloud computing, document management, voice or data transmission or otherwise;

– For the purposes of this clause, electronic based offering of securities, subscription thereof or listing of securities in the International Financial Services Centres set up under section 18 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of 2005) shall not be construed as ‘electronic mode’ for the purpose of clause (42) of section 2 of the Act.”.

(i) “electronic record” means the electronic record as defined under clause (t) of subsection (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000;

(j) “electronic Registry” means an electronic repository or storage system of the Central Government in which the information or documents are received, stored,
protected and preserved in electronic form;

(k) “Executive Director” means a as defined in clause (94) of section 2 of the Act;

(l) ”Fees” means the fees as specified in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014;

(m) ”Form” means a form set forth in the Act or the rules made thereunder which shall be used for the matter to which it relates;

(n) “Pre-fill” means the automated process of data input by the computer system from the database maintained in electronic registry of the Central Government;

(o) “Registrar’s Front Office” means an office maintained by the Central Government or an agency authorised by it to facilitate e-filing of documents into the electronic registry and their inspection and viewing;

(p) “Regional Director” means the person appointed by the Central Government in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as a Regional Director;

(q) “section” means the section of the Act;

 “Total Share Capital”, for the purposes of clause (6) and clause (87) of section 2, means the aggregate of the –

(a) paid-up equity share capital; and
(b) convertible preference share capital;

(s) For the purposes of clause (d) of sub-section (1) of Section 164 and clause (f) of sub-section (1) of section 167 of the Act, “or otherwise” means any offence in respect of which he has been convicted by a Court under this Act or the Companies Act, 1956;

For the purposes of sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii) of clause (85) of section 2 of the Act, paid up capital and turnover of the small company shall not exceed rupees two crores and rupees twenty crores respectively

(2) The used in these rules but not defined and defined in the Act or in (i) the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956) or (ii) the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992) or (iii) the Depositories Act, 1996 (22 of 1996) or (iv) the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) or rules and regulations made there under shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them under the Act or those Acts.

For the purposes of the proviso to clause (52) of section 2 of the Act, the following classes of companies shall not be
considered as listed companies, namely:-

(a) Public companies which have not listed their equity shares on a recognized stock exchange but have listed their –

(i) non-convertible debt securities issued on private placement basis in terms of SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008; or

(ii) non-convertible redeemable preference shares issued on private placement basis in terms of SEBI (Issue and Listing of Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares) Regulations, 2013; or

(iii) both categories of (i) and (ii) above.

(b) Private companies which have listed their non-convertible debt securities on private placement basis on a recognized stock exchange in terms of SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008;

(c) Public companies which have not listed their equity shares on a recognized stock exchange but whose equity shares are listed on a stock exchange in a jurisdiction as specified in sub-section (3) of section 23 of the Act.”.

11.1.14-Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules,2014

14. Disqualification of directors under sub-section (2) of section 164.-

1.Every director shall inform to the company concerned about his disqualification under  sub-section (2) of section 164, if any, in  before he is appointed or re-appointed.“

Whenever a company receives the information in Form DIR-8, company shall, within thirty days of such receipt, file Form DIR-9 with the Registrar.

2. Whenever a company fails to file the financial statements or annual returns, or fails to repay any deposit, interest, dividend, or fails to redeem its debentures, as specified in sub-section (2) of section 164, the company shall immediately file , to the Registrar furnishing therein the names and addresses of all the directors of the company during the relevant financial years.

3. When a company fails to file the  within a period of thirty days of the failure that would attract the disqualification under sub-section (2) of section 164, officers of the company specified in clause (60) of section 2 of the Act shall be the officers in default.

4. Upon receipt of the  under sub-rule (2), the Registrar shall immediately register the document and place it in the document file for public inspection.

5. Any application for removal of disqualification of directors shall be made in

Commencement Notification dated 07/05/2018

Enforcement Notification S.O. 902(E) dated 26/03/2014

Exemption to Govt Companies G.S.R. 463(E) dated 05/06/2015

Exemptions to Government Companies [Amendment to GSR 463(E)] dated 13/06/2017

MCA Notification dated 20.01.2023 regarding Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) (Amendment) Rules, 2023.

The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017 (Effective from 03.01.2018)

The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2019 dated 31.07.2019

The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 dated 02.11.2018 [repealed vide the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019]

The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 dated 12.01.2019 w.e.f., 02.11.2018

Circular for extension of last date for Condonation of Delay Scheme 2018 dated 27.04.2018

General Circular 16/2017

General Circular No. 02/2018 dated 28.03.2018

Form DIR 10- Substituted vide MCA Notification dated 20.01.2023

Form DIR 8- Substituted vide MCA Notification dated 20.01.2023

Form DIR 9- Substituted vide MCA Notification dated 20.01.2023

FORM DIR-10 Form of application for removal of disqualification of Directors

FORM DIR-8 Intimation by Director

FORM DIR-9 Report by the company to Registrar