Panel to table Company Act Amendment Bill in House today

Kathmandu, February 20

The Parliamentary Committee on Commerce, Industries and Consumer Welfare Relation will table the Company Act Amendment Bill in the Parliament on Tuesday.

A sub-committee chaired by lawmaker Ananta Prasad Poudel had submitted an amendment report on the draft of Company Act Amendment at the committee’s meeting today, which the full committee has decided to table in the Parliament. Chairperson of the committee, Bhisma Raj Aangdambe, said that some suggestions and amendments as demanded by lawmakers have been incorporated in the draft of the Company Act Amendment Bill.

Addressing the committee’s meeting, Secretary at Ministry of Industry (MoI) Shankar Prasad Koirala, said that the government had tried to make the Company Act more business friendly. “Basically, we have attempted to make both the entry and exit provisions for any company easy through new amendments,” he said.

According to Koirala, the draft of the Company Act Bill has introduced a provision whereby any company that is registered but has remained defunct will get a chance to exit or revive the business by paying either 0.5 per cent of their paid-up capital or by clearing all their accrued dues to the government. Though MoI had initially proposed to allow such companies to be revived by paying one per cent of the paid-up capital, lawmakers had suggested charging such firms only 0.5 per cent of their paid-up capital.

MoI has estimated that there are almost 40,000 small and big registered companies in Nepal that are not in operation at present.

Similarly, the new amendment draft bill of the Company Act has also introduced and validated the use of

digital signatures and encouraged online registration of firms.

Secretary Koirala said that MoI is working to endorse a majority of pending investment-related acts before the Nepal Investment Summit that is scheduled for March 2 and 3. “Availability of all policies and acts will convey a positive message to potential investors,” Koirala said.