Contribution to disaster relief is now an eligible CSR activity

^{Munmi Phukon, Principal Manager
Vinod Kothari & Company
munmi@vinodkothari.com}

Introduction

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on 30^th May, 2019 issued a Notification amending Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013 (Act) which seeks to include disaster management, including relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities under CSR activities. The amendment is very crucial considering the recent history of natural disaster the country had witnessed and this was always an expectation of the corporate sector from the Government.

Provisions of law

The Act through Section 135 puts a social obligation on certain class of companies on the basis their turnover and net profits to spend 2% of the average net profits of past 3 years in the activities mentioned in the Schedule. However, the contribution to any disaster management/ relief activities was not specifically covered in the Schedule except for Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. This was an insufficiency of law due to which the companies were, in a way, forced to restrict themselves to the PM’s Fund despite of their wish to contribute in other funds or to decline the benefit which the society deserves in such circumstances.

The two- fold benefit

Seemingly, the amendment has come out with a relief to the corporates as well as to the society at large. Therefore, the benefit is said to be a two- fold benefit which, in one hand, will ensure welfare of the society and the environment in need and in the other, it will help the corporates deployment of the minimum allocated CSR fund in needy areas in a more effective way.