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Nutriwel Health (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Reserve Bank Of India3 May 2000

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

The Regional Director, exercising compounding jurisdiction under Section 15(1) of FEMA, holds that a company which receives foreign inward remittance for the issue of shares, and issues shares against it, contravenes paragraph 9(1)(A) and paragraph 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB where it reports the remittance or files Form FC-GPR later than the 30-day period prescribed by those paragraphs; the contravention is established on the admitted facts of the late reporting and late filing. Where the contravening party admits the contraventions and, by a compounding application supported by declarations that it is not under enquiry, investigation or adjudication and has filed no appeal under Section 17 or 19, the authority may compound those admitted contraventions on payment of a sum fixed in its discretion, taking into account the facts and circumstances, including the absence of any malafide or wilful intention attributed to delay by an outside consultant; such compounding is expressly subject to the veracity of the declarations, and is without prejudice to other action if those declarations prove false or incorrect.

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 6, Sansad Marg New Delhi-110001 Present Ajay Kumar Regional Director for Delhi and CGM, New Delhi Date: May 6, 2019 CA No. NDL 361/2018 In the matter of Nutriwel Health (India) Private Limited 227, 1st Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase-III, New Delhi-110020 (Applicant) In exercise of the powers under Section 15(1) of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the Regulations/ Rules/ Notifications/ Orders made thereunder, I pass the following Order. ORDER The applicant has filed the compounding application dated December 28, 2018 (received at Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi on December 31, 2018) for compounding of contraventions of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (hereinafter referred to as FEMA) and the regulations issued thereunder. The contraventions sought to be compounded are those of (i) delay in reporting foreign inward remittance received for issue of shares, and (ii) delay in filing form FC-GPR after issue of shares, in terms of paragraphs 9(1)(A) and 9(1)(B) respectively 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 May 3, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as FEMA 20/2000-RB), as amended from time to time.

2. The relevant facts of the case are as follows: (a) The applicant company, incorporated on March 26, 2009, is engaged in the business of general medical consultancy aimed at weight loss, enhancement of Nutriwel Health (India) Private Limited CA No. NDL 361/2018 health and fitness status, general wellbeing and improving the quality of life of individuals. (b) The applicant had received foreign inward remittance of ₹7,00,00,000/- on April 16, 2015 from its foreign investor, M/s OneHealth Ventures Pte. Ltd., Singapore and reported it on June 2, 2015 with a delay of 17 days beyond the prescribed period in contravention of paragraph 9(1)(A) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, as then applicable. Whereas, in terms of paragraph 9(1)(A) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000- RB, an Indian company issuing shares or convertible debentures or warrants in accordance with these Regulations shall submit through AD bank to the Regional Office concerned of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the Registered office of the company operates, not later than 30 days from the date of receipt of the amount of consideration received by Indian company for issue of shares or convertible debentures or warrants, a report in Advance Reporting Form as specified by Reserve Bank from time to time along with documents prescribed therein. (c) The applicant had issued 4,925 Equity Shares and 69,02,865 Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) to M/s OneHealth Ventures Pte. Ltd., Singapore on April 23, 2015 for a consideration of ₹7,00,00,007.75 and reported the same on June 4, 2015 with a delay of 12 days beyond the prescribed period in contravention of paragraph 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, as then applicable. Whereas, in terms of paragraph 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000- RB, an Indian company issuing shares or convertible debentures or warrants in accordance with these Regulations shall submit through AD bank to the Regional Office concerned of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the Registered office of the company operates, not later than 30 days from the date of issue of shares or convertible debentures or warrants, a report in form FC-GPR as specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time together with documents prescribed therein. (d) Thus, there are contraventions of paragraphs 9(1)(A) and 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, as then applicable.

3. The applicant was given an opportunity for personal hearing for further submission in person and/ or by producing documents, if any, in support of the application. Shri Gautam Behl, Chartered Accountant & Manager (Finance) and Ms. Nisha, Company Secretary, appeared for personal hearing on May 2, 2019 on behalf of the applicant. The representatives of the applicant admitted the contraventions committed by the Nutriwel Health (India) Private Limited CA No. NDL 361/2018 applicant for which compounding has been sought. During the personal hearing, they submitted that contraventions were without any malafide or wilful intention but were mainly due to delayed filing by the consultancy firm hired for filings and ensuring compliance to FEMA Regulations. They requested for a lenient view in the matter. The application for compounding is, therefore, being considered on the basis of averments made in the application as well as other documents and submissions made during the personal hearing.

4. I have given my careful consideration to the documents on record and submissions made by the applicant during the personal hearing. Accordingly, I hold that the applicant has contravened the following FEMA provisions: (a) Paragraph 9(1)(A) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, on account of delay in reporting foreign inward remittance received towards subscription of shares as detailed in paragraph 2(b) above. The contravention relates to an amount of ₹7,00,00,000/- (Rupees Seven Crore only) and the period of delay is 17 days. (b) Paragraph 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, on account of delay in filing form FC-GPR after issue of shares as detailed in paragraph 2(c) above. The contravention relates to an amount of ₹7,00,00,007.75 (Rupees Seven Crore Seven and Paise Seventy Five only) and the period of delay is 12 days.

5. It has been declared in the compounding application dated December 28, 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 also been declared in the declaration dated December 28, 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. 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 FEMA, any person contravening any provision of the Act

Nutriwel Health (India) Private Limited CA No. NDL 361/2018 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 contraventions are to be compounded and I consider that an amount of ₹28,000/- (Rupees Twenty Eight Thousand only) will meet the ends of justice.

7. Accordingly, I compound the admitted contraventions of paragraphs 9(1)(A) and 9(1)(B) of Schedule 1 to FEMA 20/2000-RB, as then applicable, by the applicant based on the facts detailed above in terms of the Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules, 2000, on payment of an amount of ₹28,000/- (Rupees Twenty Eight Thousand only) which shall be deposited by the applicant with the Reserve Bank of India, Foreign Exchange Department, 6, Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110001 by a demand draft drawn in favour of the “Reserve Bank of India” and payable at New Delhi 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 the 6th day of May 2019.

Sd/- (Ajay Kumar) Regional Director for Delhi and CGM, New Delhi

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