LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP PART-XXXXII

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP PART-XXXXII

(Additional Fees & Enhanced Punishment)

Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal

Payment of additional fees (Section 69) 

 Section 69 of LLP Act, 2008 provide for payment of additional fees. Accordingly,  any document or return required to be filed or registered under this Act with the Registrar, if, is not filed or registered in time provided therein, may be filed or registered after that time upto a period of three hundred days from the date within which it should have been filed, on payment of additional fee of one hundred rupees for every day of such delay  in addition to any fee as is payable for filing of such document or return: 

Provided that such document or return may, without prejudice to any other action or liability under this Act, also be filed after such period of three hundred days on payment of fee and additional fee specified in this section.

 Section 69 seeks to provide that any document or return required to be filed or registered under this Act with the Registrar, if, is not filed or registered in time provided therein, may be filed or registered after that time up to a period of three hundred days from the date within which it should have been filed, on payment of additional fees of one hundred rupees for every day of such delay in addition to any fees as is payable for filing of such document or return. The clause also provides that such document or return may, without prejudice to any other action or liability under this Act, also be filed after such period of three hundred days on payment of fees and additional fees specified in this section. 

Document or return required, to be filed, if is not filed in time provided therein, may be filed within a period of 300 days from the date within which it should have been filed on payment of additional fees of one hundred rupees for every day of such delay. 

Section 69 thus provides for yet another opportunity to the LLP or other persons to file or register documents after the due date or last date on which such documents ought  to have been filed or registered, upto a period of three hundred days from such date on payment of additional fee. The payment of additional fee has been prescribed at Rs 100 (rupees one hundred) per day of delay. The additional fee shall be over and above the normal prescribed fee payable for filing of documents or returns etc. 

The proviso provides that even after the expiring of 300 days from the last due date, the document can be filed alongwith applicable fee and additional fee without prejudice to any other action or liability under the provisions of LLP Act. Thus, in case of delay of over 300 days, other penalty such as prosecution etc may also be initiated .

While the additional fee is fixed based on delayed period in Companies Act, in case of LLPs, it is fixed per day of default and such, there is no upper limit to the additional fee, a LLP would be required to pay.

 Enhanced punishment (Section 70)

Section 69 of LLP Act, 2008 provide for enhanced punishment. Accordingly, in case a limited liability partnership or any partner or designated partner of such   limited liability partnership commits any offence, the limited liability partnership or any partner or designated partner shall, for the second or subsequent offence, be punishable with imprisonment as provided, but in case of offences for which fine is prescribed either along with or exclusive of imprisonment, with fine which shall be twice the amount of fine for such offence.

Section 70 of the LLP Act, 2008 seeks to provide that in case a LLP or any partner or designated partner of such LLP commits any offence, the LLP or any partner or designated partner shall, for the second or subsequent offence, be punishable with imprisonment as provided, but in case of offence for which fine is prescribed either along with or exclusive of imprisonment, with fine which shall be twice the amount of fine for such offence.

 Section 70 prescribes stiff penal provisions for second or subsequent offence under the LLP Act. The provision shall be invoked in case of second or subsequent (more than twice) offence of any provisions or rules under LLP Act the enhanced punishment would be applicable to offences where monetary punishments (fine) have been prescribed, either exclusively or  alongwith imprisonment . In case of punishment where imprisonment has been provided, for subsequent default, such imprisonment shall continue but monetary punishment shall be enhanced to two hundred percent .

Thus, in LLP,  repeating an offence or contravention of any provision shall imply enhanced monetary punishment @ two hundred percent of the original fine . This fine shall be imposed on LLP itself, its partners or designated partners.  The punishment under section 70 is independent of the original punishment as also under section 74 which prescribes for general penalties.

 

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