Registration of Entities for Undertaking CSR Activities – Procedure

Pursuant to the provisions of section 135 of the Companies Act, read along with Rules 4(1) and 4(2) of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, the e-form CSR-1 is to be filed by the companies for undertaking any Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities. These companies or entities are required to mandatorily register with the central government for undertaking any CSR activity by filing the e-form CSR-1 with the RegistrRegistrardition to this, the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules also states that the company can take CSR activities either on its own or through any of the following entities namely:

1. A company formed under Companies Act section 8, or a public trust or a society, which are registered as per the provisions of section 12A and 80 G of the Income Tax Act, formed by the company, either in single or along with any other company; or
2. A company which was formed as per section 8 of the Companies Act, or a registered trust or a registered society, which the Central Government or State Government formed; or

iii. Any entity which was formed as per the Act of Parliament or a State legislature; or

1. A company that is formed under section 8 of the Act, or a public trust that is registered, or a society that is registered under section 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and has an asset track record of not less than three years in conducting similar activities.

Therefore, the above-specified companies are required to register with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) by filing Form CSR-1 for any CSR Projects from AprApril 102101st April provision related to taking mandatory registration shall not apply to any projects which were approved prior to the 1^st of Apri01st Aprilhis abrogates any requirement for filing Form CSR-1 with respect to ongoing projects as of 1st April 121.
It should be noted that if a company registers online and undertakes CSR Activities or projects on its own, then the requirement for filing Form CSR-1 shall not be applicable.

Documents Mandatorily Required for Filing of Form CSR-1

1. A copy of the Registration Certificate
2. A copy of the PAN Card of both entities.
3. DIN/PAN of the Director, Trustee, Secretary, etc. of the company
4. A copy of the Resolution of the person by the entity with the Resolution number and date of the resolution of the person

Procedure for Filing Form Resolution

1. Load the form CSR-1 from the MCA website following the steps below:

(i.a) The applicant should visit or access the official online portal of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and click on ‘Forms & Downloads’, which is given at the top of the webpage.
(i.b) Scroll down the website page to ‘Incorporation services’ and tap the mouse button on the option, namely, Registration of Entities for undertaking CSR activities Form CSR-1. Download the e-form with or without the instructions, which will be downloaded as a zip file. Then, open the instructions and separate the form and instructions.
(i.c) A file in PDF format named ‘Form_CSR-1’ should be opened. It is the one for the registering entities that undertake CSR activities.

1. Once the form has been downloaded and filled with all the necessary and mandatory details asked for in the form, the applicant needs to access the official website of the MCA or the Ministry of Corporate Affairs so as to furnish Form CSR-1. By logging into the portal, users can provide the necessary details by uploading Form CSR-1.

iii. For this, the company should log in to the portal, entering a valid ‘Corporate Identity Number’ (CIN).

1. Select the purpose of the e-Form from the drop-down menu and choose the filing of CSR-1.
2. Declaration and Designation would be the next set, and for this, any one of the options from the drop-down values shall be selected for declaration and then digitally signed on the Form CSR-1. And the following shall be noted:

(v.a) If the person digitally signing the Form CSR-1 is a director, an approved DIN must be provided.
(v.b) If the person digitally signing the Form CSR-1 is a manager, enter their approved DIN or valid income-tax PAN.
(v.c) The Membership number needs to be filed, in case the person digitally signing the Form CSR-1 is the Company Secretary.

1. The documents pertaining to the formation of CSR-1 should be uploaded now by clicking on the ‘attach’ button. After which, the payment button should be clicked to make payment of the applicable fee.

vii. Once the form CSR-1 has been successfully submitted, it shall be processed by the Registrar of Companies (ROC). And on such successful submission of the form, SRN will be generated and displayed to the applicant, which can be used for any future correspondence with the MCA pertaining to such form submission.
viii. A challan on the successful payment of the fees for filing of CSR-1 and the submission of the same shall also be generated, which will contain all the details of the fees paid. This can also be viewed as an acknowledgment given to the applicant for filing the Form CSR-1.

1. On the complete and successful processing of the form CSR-1 by the concerned authority, an acknowledgment shall be sent to the official email of the company. Additionally, a unique CSR Registration Number will be automatically generated by the system and assigned to the applicant.

Signing and Certification of Form CSR-1

IN CASE OF	SIGNED BY
Section 8 Company	Any Director
Registered Public Trust	Any one of the Trustees or the CEO
Registered Society	Chairperson/CEO/Secretary
An entity that was formed under the ACT of Parliament or the State Legislature	Authorized Representative