ROC Imposes Rs 1 Lakh Penalty for Failure to Maintain Registered Office

The Registrar of Companies (ROC), Ernakulam, has imposed a penalty on a company and its director for not maintaining a proper registered office, as required under the Companies Act, 2013.

The company, AAB Consultants Pvt Ltd, did not comply with Section 12 of the Companies Act, 2013, which mandates that every company must have a proper registered office that is capable of receiving official communications and notices.

The non-compliance was detected after ROC sent notices to the company’s registered address. But these notices were returned undelivered. They were marked as “unclaimed” or “absent”. The company also did not inform ROC about any change in its registered office address.

Since the company failed to maintain a functional registered office, the ROC imposed a penalty of Rs 1,00,000 each on the company and its director. The order directs them to rectify the default and pay the penalty within 90 days through the ‘e-Adjudication’ facility available on the MCA Portal.