In an important initiative taken by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), holding of Meeting of Board of Directors and Meeting of Shareholders through Video Conferencing has been given a go ahead vide General Circular no 28/2011 and 27/2011 respectively. This is a welcome step towards incorporating green initiatives in e-Governance. The date of applicability of the aforesaid circulars will be notified shortly by the MCA.
The following are the highlights of the circular :
- Participation by directors in meetings of Board/Committee of directors under the Companies Act, 1956 through electronic mode (General Circular No 28/2011 dated 20 May, 2011)
Important Conditions to be filled:
- Notice of the meeting should inform the directors regarding availability of participation through video conference and provide necessary information to enable directors to access the available facility of video conferencing.
- Notice of the meeting must seek confirmation from the directors as to whether the director shall attend the meeting physically or through electronic mode and shall also contain the contact number(s)/e-mail addresses of the Secretary/designated officer to whom the directors shall confirm in this regard.
- In the absence of any confirmation from the director, it will be presumed that he/she will attend the meeting physically.
- Every Director must attend at least one meeting personally in a financial year of the company.
- At the start of such a meeting, a roll call shall be made by the Chairman/Secretary. Every director/authorized participant shall state, for the record, the following:
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