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Deposits has been an important source of funding for the corporates in India. Under the
Companies Act, 1956 regime, provisions related to deposits was less stringent as
compared to under its successor.
Companies Act, 2013, initially laid down a kind of prohibition for acceptance of deposit
which was later relaxed through various amendments and providing crucial exemptions to
private companies. Private Companies can now accept deposits from its member with
minimum regulatory compliances.
Before moving towards the regulatory requirements for accepting deposits by the
Company, it must be clear what is Deposit and what are excluded from the ambit of
deposit or not termed as deposit.
Definition of Deposit:
Deposit has been defined under Section 2(31) of the Companies Act, 2013 further expanded
under the Deposit Rules, 2014.
As per Section 2(31), “deposit” includes any receipt of money by way of deposit or loan or
in any other form by a company, but does not include such categories of amount as may
be prescribed in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
Accordingly, Rule 2(1)(c) of Companies (Acceptance of Deposit) Rules, 2014, excludes the
following amount received by a Company from the ambit of Deposit and shall not be
considered as deposits –
i. any amount received from the Central Government or a State Government or local
authority or statutory authority, or any amount Whose repayment is guaranteed by the
Central Government or a State Government;
ii. any amount received from foreign Governments, foreign or international banks,
foreign bodies corporate and foreign citizens, foreign authorities or persons resident
outside India;
vii. Any amount received through Public o er. However, if securities not allotted
within 60 days and refund not made within 15 days then such amount will be treated
as Deposit;
viii. Any amount received from the director of the company and in case of private
company also from the relative of the director of the company subject to the condition
that the amount has been given from own’s fund and not from borrowings.
ix. Any amount raised by the issue of bonds or debentures secured by a first charge or
a charge ranking pari passu with the first charge, compulsorily convertible within 10
years;
(a) As advance for supply of good or services provided that such goods or services
are supplied within 365 days of the receipt of advance;
(d) As advance under long term projects for supply of capital goods;
Provided that if the amount received under (a), (b) & (d) becomes refundable due to lack of
necessary permission or approval to deal in the concerned goods or services, then the
amount received shall be deemed as deposit on the expiry of 15 days from the date they
become due for refund.
xiv. Any amount of unsecured loan brought in by the promoters subject to the
fulfilment of the following conditions:
(a) the loan is brought in pursuance of the stipulation imposed by the lending
institutions on the promoters to contribute such finance;
(c) the exemption under this sub-clause shall be available only till the loans of
financial institution or bank are repaid and not thereafter;
xvii. Any amount received by the company under any collective investment scheme;
xix. Any amount received by a company from registered Alternate Investment Funds,
Domestic Venture Capital Funds, Infrastructure Investment Trusts and Mutual Funds.
The provisions of Deposits are covered under the following sections and their relevant
rules under the Companies Act, 2013 –
On a very first note, Section 73 prohibits every company (except banking company, NBFCs
and) from inviting, accepting or renewing deposits from the public. However, such
companies can accept deposits from its members subject to the conditions specified under
the Act.
However, Section 76 allows Specified Public Companies to accept deposits from public
subject to certain conditions which has been discussed later.
Public Deposits:
Who can accept Deposits from Public?
A Public Company having a net worth of not less than 100 crore rupees OR a turnover of
not less than 500 Crore rupees AND which has obtained the prior consent of shareholders
through Special Resolution AND such resolution has been filed with the registrar before
inviting deposits.
However, if the company is accepting deposits within the limit of Section 180(1)(c) i.e. if
the total borrowing of the Company doesn’t exceed aggregate of its paid-up share capital,
free reserves and securities premium account, then the consent of shareholders through
Ordinary Resolution will su ce.
its deposits maturing during the following financial year, on or before 30th April of each
year and such amount shall be kept in a separate bank account to be called deposit
repayment reserve account.
A Public Company can accept the deposits from its members if it fulfils the following
conditions:
its deposits maturing during the following financial year, on or before 30th April of each
year and such amount shall be kept in a separate bank account to be called deposit
repayment reserve account.
Every Company inviting deposits must certify that the Company has not defaulted in the
repayment of deposit or interest in the past and if default had occurred then the default
was made good and 5 years had lapsed from the date of making the default good.
Every Company shall file return of such accepted deposits with ROC in form DPT-3.
Deposits from its members by Private Companies:
A private Company may accept deposits from its members after obtaining the approval of
the members in General Meeting through Ordinary Resolution and subject to fulfilling the
following conditions:
However, the maximum limit for acceptance of deposit from its members shall not be
applicable on the following classes of Private Companies:
1. Private Company which is a start-up, for 5 years from the date of its incorporation;
b) Its borrowings from banks or financial institutions or any body corporate is less
the twice of its paid-up share capital or 50 crore rupees, whichever is less; and
c) It has not defaulted in the repayment of such borrowings subsisting at the time
of accepting deposits.
3. No deposit shall be invited or renewed wherein the rate of interest or brokerage fee
exceeds the maximum rate of interest or brokerage prescribed by the RBI for
acceptance of deposits by NBFCs.
The Deposit provision bifurcates the deposit accepting companies into following class:
It is to be noted that any amount received from Director of the Company has been
excluded from the definition of deposit and thus doesn’t attracts the provisions of deposit.
In case of Private Limited Company, any amount received from relative of director also
shall not be considered as deposit.
The article has been written by Siddarth Agarwal, Practising Company Secretary carrying
his practice in Delhi-NCR and Guwahati. Due care has been taken to ensure the
correctness of information. However, this article cannot be construed as legal opinion and
writer will not be liable for any claim. Any suggestions are welcome to increase the
e ectiveness of the article. For detailed analysis on any of the provision or for any query,
writer can be contacted on the given contact details.
You can reach him on +91 99999 842474 or +91 84710 19192 or through email –
Siddarth.grwl@gmail.com
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