As many as 1,313 “listed” entities that have failed to file their annual reports for two years face the prospect of being struck off the registrar of companies’ (RoC) database. The move is a continuation of the ministry of corporate affairs’ (MCA) efforts to weed out shell companies. A senior ministry official observed that while the companies were categorised as “listed”, in reality most of them were not. Consequently, their status will be altered from “listed” to “unlisted” before they are struck off. “They might have sought permission from the MCA to file draft prospectuses for initial public offerings (IPOs) but did not complete the process. That is why they are categorised as ‘listed’,” the official explained.

As many as 1,313 “listed” entities that have failed to file their annual reports for two years face the prospect of being struck off the registrar of companies’ (RoC) database. The move is a continuation of the ministry of corporate affairs’ (MCA) efforts to weed out shell companies. A senior ministry official observed that while the companies were categorised as “listed”, in reality most of them were not. Consequently, their status will be altered from “listed” to “unlisted” before they are struck off. “They might have sought permission from the MCA to file draft prospectuses for initial public offerings (IPOs) but did not complete the process. That is why they are categorised as ‘listed’,” the official explained.