Ergo Update

Back in June this year, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) issued a circular (June Circular) mandating seeding of employees’ Aadhaar number with their Universal Account Number (UAN) as a pre-condition to filing of electronic challan-cum-return (ECR) by employers in respect of employees’ provident fund contributions. Right from the time it became effective (1 June 2021), the June Circular attracted widespread attention and even criticism from certain quarters.

The Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2021 have been notified and has come into force from the date of Publication in the Official Gazette i.e. 21 September 2021.

Over the past few years, Indian courts have actively taken a pro-arbitration stance and emphasised on minimum judicial interference in arbitral processes or awards. Recently, the Supreme Court of India in Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India Ltd v Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd, has further clarified the scope of the courts’ power to “entertain” and adjudicate applications for interim relief, when the arbitral tribunal has been constituted during the pendency of parties’ applications for interim relief before the court.

On 13 September 2021, the Supreme Court (SC), has delivered a judgment (SC Judgment) in the batch matter of Ebix Singapore Pvt. Ltd. v. Committee of Creditors of Educomp Solutions Ltd. and Anr., Civil Appeal No. 3224 of 2020, providing long overdue clarity on the status of a resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (Code) once it has been approved by the Committee of Creditors (COC) but is still pending approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (Adjudicating Authority/ NCLT).

In a recent order in Palak Khatuja v Union of India and others (WP(T) No. 149 of 2021) (Order), a single judge bench of the Hon’ble Chhattisgarh High Court (High Court) has upheld the validity of reassessment notice issued under the old law (ie, law existing prior to 1 April 2021).

On 25 August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Ministry) notified the Drone Rules 2021 (Drone Rules). The Drone Rules supersede the erstwhile Unmanned Aircraft System Rules 2021 (UAS Rules) and have significantly reduced the approvals, compliance requirements and entry barriers for drone operators in India.

The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products Scheme(“RoDTEP”) is a new scheme that is formed to replace the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). MEIS was one of the schemes introduced under chapter 3 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 (FTP) with the objective "to provide rewards to exporters to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and costs". However, MEIS was successfully challenged by US at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and is effectively being replaced with RoDTEP.

On 23 August 2021, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of INR 200 crore on Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) for employing a Discount Control Policy (DCP) vis-à-vis its dealers, amounting to Resale Price Maintenance (RPM).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been making consistent efforts to update and reconstruct the alternate investment space.

Through its notification published in the Official Gazette on 13 August 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has brought into effect (immediately from 13 August 2021) the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021 (2021 Regulations). The 2021 Regulations have replaced the SEBI (Issue of Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2002 (Sweat Equity Regulations) and the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014 (SBEB Regulations), and the new regime will assume relevance even for existing share-based benefit schemes.