New Delhi, Feb 15 (KNN) The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has introduced an extensive format for reporting corporate social responsibility (CSR). 

The government had mandated Corporate India to publish a comprehensive report on their specific CSR initiatives. With the new 11-page form notified by the MCA on February 11, companies will have to provide the details of the CSR amount spent in the three preceding financial years and details of all ongoing projects.

This additional information can be used by the corporate affairs ministry in drafting effective policies for CSR.

Companies will have to file the new Form CSR-2 for the preceding financial year (2020-21), on or before March 31, 2022. This is in addition to the Form AOC-4 for filing the company's financial statement with the Registrar of Companies. These disclosures are also part of the annual report on CSR the MCA had mandated companies to file.

If any capital assets have been created or acquired through CSR spend, companies will have to provide details, including address, location, pincode of the property, along with amount spent and its registered owner.

The new mechanism has been put in place to ensure the CSR sum is spent in an appropriate and accountable manner and the money unspent is not turned back into the company.

The stringent laws are also driven by the fact that many companies were passing CSR money back into their accounts or even abusing the CSR provision for money laundering. 

Enactment of Companies Act, 2013 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India was one of the world's largest experiments of introducing the CSR as a mandatory provision by imposing statutory obligation on Companies to take up CSR projects towards social welfare activities.

This has made India the only country which has regulated and mandated CSR for some select categories of companies registered under the Act. (KNN Bureau)