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M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Pvt Ltd

Reserve Bank Of India3 May 2000

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

The compounding authority holds that a contravention of a reporting obligation under FEMA may be compounded, on the admitted facts and the applicant's declarations that the particulars are true, that no enquiry or adjudication is pending, and that no appeal has been filed, and that compounding is without prejudice to any action taken if those declarations are later found false or incorrect. Where the contravention is admitted, the amount for compounding is fixed by the authority under its discretion in Section 13 of FEMA, taking into account the relevant facts and circumstances of the case, rather than by the maximum penalty of up to thrice the sum involved.

Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.

Judgment

As delivered

In the RESERVE BANK OF INDIA Foreign Exchange Department Secretariat Road Saifabad, Hyderabad 500 004 Present Shri. Subrata Das Regional Director (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and Chief General Manager (Hyderabad) Date: March 12, 2019 C.A. HYD 347 In the matter of M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Private Limited 9-1-64, 5th Floor, Amsri Plaza Hyderabad 500003 (Applicant) In exercise of the powers conferred under subsection (1) of Section 15 of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the Regulations/ Rules/ Notifications/ Orders made there under, I pass the following Order The applicant has filed the compounding application dated November 8, 2018 received on November 9, 2018 for compounding of contraventions of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (the FEMA) and the regulations issued thereunder. The contraventions sought to be compounded are (i) delay in reporting receipt of foreign inward remittances and (ii) delay in filing of FLA returns in terms of Paragraph 9(1)(A) and Paragraph 9(2) of Schedule 1 to Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a person resident outside India) Regulations, 2000 notified vide Notification no. FEMA. 20/2000-RB dated 3rd May

Compounding of contraventions under FEMA 1999 M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Pvt Ltd CA No. HYD 347 2000 (hereinafter referred to as Notification no. FEMA 20/2000-RB) as then applicable and as amended. 2. The relevant facts of the case are as follows: a) The applicant is a resident company incorporated as Private Limited Company under the Companies Act, 1956 on 22.02.2007 (CIN: U45200TG2007PTC052936). The company is engaged in construction of buildings carried out on own-account basis or on a fee or contract basis. b) The applicant had received foreign inward remittances as indicated below. Sl Name of Remitter Total Date of Date of No Amount Receipt Reporting (INR) 1 Arihant Trade & Investment 335000000 26.07.2007 10.09.2007 Ltd, Cyprus subsidiary of Indiareit offshore fund 2 Arihant Holdings Ltd, Mauritius 340000 04.02.2008 04.03.2008 earlier Amsri Holdings Limited

Total 335340000 The applicant reported receipt of remittances towards share subscription amounting to ₹ 33,53,40,000/- to the Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India out of which remittance of ₹ 33,50,00,000/- was reported with a delay of 16 days approximately as indicated above. Whereas in terms of Paragraph 9(1)(A) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB, an Indian company issuing shares or convertible debentures in accordance with these Regulations should report to the Reserve Bank of India as per the prescribed procedure not later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the amount of consideration. c) The company has delayed in filing FLA Return (Foreign liabilities and Assets) for 7 years as shown below:

Compounding of contraventions under FEMA 1999 M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Pvt Ltd CA No. HYD 347 Sl No Particulars Financial year Due date of filing Date of actual filing 1 FLA Return 2010-11 15-07-2011 06-09-2011 2 FLA Return 2011-12 15-07-2012 23-02-2019 3 FLA Return 2012-13 15-07-2013 23-02-2019 4 FLA Return 2013-14 15-07-2014 23-02-2019 5 FLA Return 2014-15 15-07-2015 23-02-2019 6 FLA Return 2015-16 15-07-2016 23-02-2019 7 FLA Return 2016-17 15-07-2017 23-02-2019 The company had filed FLA returns for 7 years with delays ranging from 1 month 23 days to 6 years 7 months 8 days approximately. Whereas, in terms of Paragraph 9(2) of Schedule I to Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated May 03, 2000 as then applicable and as amended, all Indian companies which have received Foreign Direct Investment in the previous year(s) including the current year shall submit to the Reserve Bank of India, on or before the 15th day of July of each year, [a report titled ‘Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets’ (FLA) as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time. 3. (a) The applicant submitted letter dated November 8, 2018 along with the compounding application stating that they choose not to avail of the Personal Hearing. (b) In view of the foregoing, the applicant requested to take a lenient view in disposal of the application. The application for compounding is, therefore, being considered on the basis of the averments made in the application. 4. I have given my careful consideration to the documents on record. Accordingly, I hold that the applicant has contravened the following FEMA provisions issued in terms of:-

Compounding of contraventions under FEMA 1999 M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Pvt Ltd CA No. HYD 347 (a) Paragraph 9(1)(A) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB for delay in reporting the receipt of consideration towards issue of shares amounting to ₹ 33,50,00,000/- and the delay is 16 days approximately. (b) Paragraph 9(2) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. 20/2000-RB for delay in filing of FLA returns and the period of contravention ranges from 1 month 23 days to 6 years 7 months 8 days approximately. 5. It has been declared in the compounding application dated November 8, 2018 that the particulars given by the applicant in the application are true and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief. It has been declared in the declaration dated November 8, 2018 furnished with the compounding application that the applicant was not under any enquiry/investigation/adjudication by any agency as on the date of the application and has, in this regard, not informed of initiation of any such enquiry/investigation/adjudication proceedings against it thereafter. It has further been declared that the applicant has not filed any appeal under section 17 or section 19 of FEMA, 1999. Accordingly, the above contraventions which are being compounded in this Order are subject to the veracity of the above declarations made by the applicant and this order is without prejudice to any other action which may be taken by any authority under the extant laws if the said declarations are subsequently discovered to be false and/or incorrect.

6. In terms of Section 13 of the FEMA, any person contravening any provision of the Act shall be liable to a penalty up to thrice the sum involved in such contravention upon adjudication. However, taking into account the relevant facts and circumstances of the case as stated in the foregoing paragraphs, I am persuaded to take a lenient view on the amount for which the contravention is to be compounded and I consider that an amount of ₹ 88000 /- (Rupees Eighty Eight Thousand Only) will meet the ends of justice. 7. Accordingly, I compound the admitted contraventions, namely, the contraventions of Paragraph 9(1)(A) and Paragraph 9(2) of Schedule 1 to Notification No. FEMA.20/2000-RB by the applicant on the facts discussed above in terms of the Compounding of contraventions under FEMA 1999 M/s Amsri Properties and Townships Pvt Ltd CA No. HYD 347 Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2000 on payment of an amount of ₹ 88000 /- (Rupees Eighty Eight Thousand Only) which shall be deposited by the applicant with the Reserve Bank of India, Foreign Exchange Department, 1st Floor, Saifabad, Hyderabad - 500004 by a demand draft drawn in favour of the "Reserve Bank of India" and payable at Hyderabad within a period of 15 days from the date of this order.

In case of failure to deposit the compounded amount within the above mentioned period, Rule 10 of the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2000 dated May 3, 2000 shall apply.

The application is disposed accordingly. Dated this 12th day of March 2019 (Sd/-) (Subrata Das) Regional Director (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and Chief General Manager (Hyderabad)

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