NCLT admits 110 cases for insolvency resolution

Kolkata: As many as 110 cases have been admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal for resolution of corporate insolvency.

"110 transactions have been admitted by the NCLT for corporate insolvency resolution," Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India's chairman M S Sahoo said at a programme at Merchants' Chamber of Commerce. In May, some 500 applications, including those from banks, were filed with various benches of the NCLT for bankruptcy resolution, Sahoo said.

A case is admitted by NCLT when it finds prima facie truth in the claims made by the applicant. He said that the "underlying default" ranged from a few lakh to 6000 crore rupees. Initially low value cases were reported, but now high value cases were also coming for adjudication.

He said that the board had notified for fast track resolution of insolvency cases involving small companies and start-ups within 90 days instead of maximum 180 days allowed normally. "The fast track process will apply to the small companies having paid up capital of less than Rs 50 lakh or annual turnover of less than Rs two crore," he said. The fast track process will also be applicable to an unlisted company with total assets, as reported in the financial statement of the immediately preceding financial year, not exceeding Rs one crore.

Meanwhile, the Merchants Chamber is setting up assistance desk for the MSMEs on the insolvency code. "We are the first chamber in the country to set up assistance desk on insolvency code," the first insolvency professional of the country and company secretary, Mamta Binani, said.