Govt plans introducing artificial intelligence system in MCA 21 portal

Corporate affairs ministry plans to introduce artificial intelligence system in the MCA 21 portal as it seeks to make compliance process easier as well as ensure routine enforcement activities are done round-the-clock on autopilot basis. MCA 21 is the electronic backbone for dissemination of information to all stakeholders, including the regulator, corporates and investors. All filings under the companies law are submitted to the ministry through this portal.

Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas has said the ministry would look to "introduce Artificial Intelligence in MCA 21 when version 3 of the portal is rolled out in about a year's time". "It will look to rationalise all the forms, follow the principle of single source of truth so that one is not required to fill in known details again (as it will get filled automatically) and also interlink databases, so that routine enforcement is done 24x7 on autopilot basis," he said.

In the ministry's monthly newsletter, Srinivas also said that MCA 21 allows electronic filings of various documents under Companies Act, 2013 and has fully automated all processes related to enforcement and compliance monitoring under the Act. Earlier this year, the ministry sought applications from service providers to develop as well as operate the upgraded version of MCA 21 system.

MCA 21 system was started in 2006. The first phase of the e-governance initiative of the ministry was implemented by Tata Consultancy Services and the second phase is being implemented by Infosys for the period from January 2013-July 2021.