Regulation 2(1)(zm)of LODR

“subsidiary company” or “subsidiary”, in relation to any other company (that is to say the holding company), means a company in which the holding company—

(i) controls the composition of the Board of Directors; or

(ii) exercises or controls more than one-half of the  total share capital  either at its own or together with one or more of its subsidiary companies:

Provided that such class or classes of holding companies as  shall not have layers of subsidiaries beyond such numbers . (Effective from 20-09-2017)

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause,—

(a) a company shall be deemed to be a subsidiary company of the holding company even if the control referred to in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (ii) is of another subsidiary company of the holding company;

(b) the composition of a company’s Board of Directors shall be deemed to be controlled by another company if that other company by exercise of some power exercisable by it at its discretion can appoint or remove all or a majority of the directors;

(c) the expression “company” includes any body corporate;

(d) “layer” in relation to a holding company means its subsidiary or subsidiaries (Effective from 01-04-2014)

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.”.

1.2.2-Companies (Restriction on number of layers) Rules, 2017

2. Restriction on number of layers for certain classes of holding companies.—

(1) On and from the date of commencement of these rules, no company, other than a company belonging to a class specified in sub-rule (2), shall have more than two layers of subsidiaries:

Provided that the provisions of this sub-rule shall not affect a company from acquiring a company incorporated outside India with subsidiaries beyond two layers as per the laws of such country:

Provided further that for computing the number of layers under this rule, one layer which consists of one or more wholly owned subsidiary or subsidiaries shall not be taken into account.

(2) The provisions of this rule shall not apply to the following classes of companies, namely:—

(a) a banking company as defined in clause (c) of section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949);

(b) a non-banking financial company as defined in clause (f) of Section 45-I of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934) which is registered with the Reserve Bank of India and considered as systematically important non-banking financial company by the Reserve Bank of India;

(c) an insurance company being a company which carries on the business of insurance in accordance with provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938 (4 of 1938) and the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority Act, 1999 (41 of 1999);

(d) a Government company referred to in clause (45) of section 2 of the Act.

(3) The provisions of this rule shall not be in derogation of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 186 of the Act.

(4) Every company, other than a company referred to in sub-rule (2), existing on or before the commencement of these rules, which has number of layers of subsidiaries in excess of the layers specified in sub-rule (1) –

(i) shall file, with the Registrar a return in Form CRL-1 disclosing the details specified therein, within a period of one hundred and fifty days from the date of publication of these rules in the Official Gazette;

(ii) shall not, after the date of commencement of these rules, have any additional layer of subsidiaries over and above the layers existing on such date; and

(iii) shall not, in case one or more layers are reduced by it subsequent to the commencement of these rules, have the number of layers beyond the number of layers it has after such reduction or maximum layers allowed in subrule (1), whichever is more.

(5) If any company contravenes any provision of these rules the company and every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees and where the contravention is a continuing one, with a further fine which may extend to one thousand rupees for every day after the first during which such contravention continues.

Annexure

Form CRL-1 Return regarding number of layers (see clause (i) of sub-rule (4)of Rule 2)

1.      (a) Name of the company: _______________

(b) CIN of the company: _______________

2. Number of layers of subsidiaries as on the date of commencement of these rules _____

3. Layer wise details of subsidiary companies

I (Name of director of the company signing the Form) am authorised by the Board of Directors of the company vide resolution number _______ dated ________ (DD/MM/YYYY) to sign this form and declare that —

(1) the information of the subsidiaries and the layers as contained in the form is true, correct and complete and no information has been suppressed or concealed.

(2) I have read the provisions of section 448 and 449 of Companies Act, 2013 which provide for punishment for false statement and punishment for false evidence respectively.

To be digitally signed by

Director                                                  DSC

Director Identification Number of the Director

Date:

Place:

Commencement Notification dated 07/05/2018

Enforcement Notification [SO 3086(E)]dated 20/09/2017

Enforcement notification S.O.2754 (E) dated 12/09/2013

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

General Circular 20/2013

General Circular 23/2014