ROC Imposes Penalty for Non-Maintenance of Registered Office 

The Registrar of Companies, Delhi and Haryana, has recently imposed a penalty against a company for not maintaining a registered office as required under section 12(1) of the Companies Act.

The Regional Director (North Region) had earlier issued letters dated 23.10.2017 and 14.11.2017 to the company, Nice Holidays and You Pvt Ltd. However, the said letters were returned undelivered, as the company did not maintain a registered office.

As per section 12(1) of the Companies Act, every company must have a registered office within 30 days of its incorporation, which is capable of receiving and acknowledging all communications and notices sent to it. However, in the present case, the company failed to maintain a proper registered office. Therefore, the Registrar of Companies (ROC) issued a show cause notice to the company and its officers on 15.05.2018.

The company was granted multiple opportunities to respond and attend hearings. The company was even directed to submit the proof of maintaining the registered office. However, the company’s explanation was unsatisfactory to the Registrar. Hence, the ROC decided to impose a penalty under Section 12(8) of the Act for the period between 30.11.2017 and 13.09.2019.

Since the company falls under the definition of a small company, the penalty was reduced to half. The company and its two directors were penalised with Rs 50,000 each. The company was directed to pay this penalty amount within 90 days through the MCA website and also correct the default by updating its registered office address.

The company was also allowed to file an appeal within 60 days by filing Form ADJ with the Regional Director (Northern Region), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.