Coronavirus Lockdown: Major relief announced for these firms

It's good news for companies going through insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)! In a major relief , the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) on Sunday said that the period of lockdown will not be counted within the timeline for resolution process.

IBBI's notification details

In a notification, the IBBI announced the insertion of regulation '40C', a special provision related to timeline of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016.

The notification said that as per the regulation, "The period of lockdown imposed by the Central Government in the wake of COVID19 outbreak shall not be counted for the purposes of the timeline for any activity that could not be completed due to such lockdown, in relation to a corporate insolvency resolution process." It said that the regulation would immediately come into effect.

Rs 1 crore: Threshold for default under the IBC

This is another major relief for the corporate world amid the coronavirus crisis. Among other recent changes under the IBC, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said that the threshold for default under the IBC has been raised to Rs 1 crore from the current Rs 1 lakh.

She also assured that the government will keep a watch on the situation and if the situation remains the same beyond April 30, the government may consider suspending Sections 7, 9, and 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) for six months. This will prevent companies from being forced into insolvency proceedings in such force majeure causes of default.

On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a complete lockdown across the country for 21 days from the midnight, asserting that social distancing is the only way out for the country in its decisive battle against the coronavirus. In his second address to the nation on the pandemic raging across much of the world with the number of infections rising in India, Modi made a fervent appeal to the countrymen not to cross the 'lakshman rekha' of their homes in the next three weeks.