Section 135 of Companies Act, 2013 (Act) and Schedule VII demarcating Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) of companies in India shall come into force from 1-4-2014. Along with notification relating to effective date for Section 135, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has also issued, on 27-2-2014, notification relating to amendment to Schedule VII of the Act.
Further, Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 has also been notified and shall come into force with Section 135 of the Act. After the amendment, scope of CSR activities which a company can undertake as per Schedule VII has been widened.
As per Section 135, every company having net worth of Rs. 500 crore or more or turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more or net profit of Rs. 5 crore or more during any financial year shall be required to spend, every financial year, at least 2% of the average net profits made by the company in the preceding three financial years as per its CSR Policy.