Comparative Analysis of Companies Act, 1956 and Companies Act, 2013

Sibani Panda, Research Associate

The new Companies Bill has received the President’s assent on August 29, 2013 and the Companies Act, 1956 which was replaced by the recent companies act has brought about some drastic changes in several areas of company administration and management.

OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 1956 AND THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013

  • The Act, of 2013 has 470 sections as against 658 Sections in the Companies Act, 1956.
  • The entire Act has been divided into 29 chapters.
  • Many new chapters have been introduced such as Registered Valuers (ch.17); Government companies (ch. 23); Companies to furnish information or statistics (ch. 25); Nidhis (ch. 26); National Company Law Tribunal & Appellate Tribunal (ch. 27); Special Courts (ch. 28).
  • The Act is forward looking in its approach which empowers the Central Government to make rules, etc. through delegated legislation (section 469 and others).
  • The Companies Act, 2013 is the result of detailed consultative process adopted by the Government.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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