As per Companies Act, 2013, section 128 provides for books of account etc. To be kept by the company. The sub section (1) provides that every company shall prepare and keep books of accounts and other relevant books and papers and financial statements for every financial year at its registered office.

However, the proviso to the sub section (1) provides that books of account and other relevant papers may be kept at kept at other places within India under the authority of a resolution of Board of directors and if such decision is taken, the company is mandatorily required to file with the concerned registrar of Companies within seven days, a notice in writing to this effect giving full address of the other place.

Further the Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules, 2014 contains various rules governing the maintenance of books of accounts in electronic mode, inspection, consolidation, accounts of subsidiaries, Transitional provisions with respect to Accounting Standards etc.

The said rules have been amended by insertion of new rule 2A which specifies the Form AOC-5 Notice of address at which books of account are to be maintained as referred above to be filed with ROC within seven days. The notification is extracted as under:

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Notification
New Delhi, the 16 ^th   January, 2015

G.S.R…..(E)..In exercise of the powers conferred by section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Accounts) Rule, 2014, namely:—

1.  (1) These rules may be called the Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules, 2015.

     (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Companies (Accounts) Rule, 2014,-

     (i)     after rule 2, following rule shall be inserted, namely:—

“2A. Notice of address at which books of account are to be maintained .-For the purposes of the first proviso to sub-section (1) of section 128, the notice regarding address at which books of account may be kept shall be in Form AOC-5.”

     (ii)   in rule 6, after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

“Provided also that nothing in this rule shall apply in respect of consolidation of financial statement by a company having subsidiary or subsidiaries incorporated outside India only for the financial year commencing on or after 1st April, 2014.”

     (iii)   in the Annexure, after Form AOC-4, the following Form shall be inserted, namely:-

 [F.NO. 1/19/2013-CL-V-Part]

Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Joint Secretary

Download Form No. AOC-5 Click Here >>