There is no definition of the term “Shell Companies” in the Companies Act and it normally refers to a company without active business operation or significant assets, which in some cases are used for illegal purposes such as tax evasion, money laundering, obscuring ownership, Benami properties, etc. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Shri Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
The Minister further stated that the Special Task Force set up by the Government to look into the issue of “Shell Companies” has inter-alia recommended the use of certain red-flag indicators as alerts for identification of Shell Companies.
The Government has undertaken a Special Drive for identification and striking off Shell Companies during the last three years, the Minister stated.
The Minister tabled a list of the total number of companies struck off u/s 248 State/ Union Territory-wise as under:
| Name of the State/ UT | No. of Struck off Companies |
| 2018 to June 2021 | |
| RoC-Ahmedabad | 9243 |
| RoC-Andaman | 41 |
| RoC-Bangalore | 11185 |
| RoC-Chandigarh | 4908 |
| RoC-Chennai | 11217 |
| RoC-Chhattisgarh | 947 |
| RoC-Coimbatore | 2992 |
| RoC-Cuttack | 3731 |
| RoC-Delhi | 45595 |
| RoC-Ernakulam | 9189 |
| RoC-Goa | 597 |
| RoC-Gwalior | 4920 |
| RoC-HimachalPradesh | 858 |
| RoC-Hyderabad | 20488 |
| RoC-Jaipur | 9222 |
| RoC-Jammu | 393 |
| RoC-Jharkhand | 1848 |
| RoC-Kanpur | 15803 |
| RoC-Kolkata | 15022 |
| RoC-Mumbai | 52869 |
| RoC-Patna | 4683 |
| RoC-Pondicherry | 191 |
| RoC-Pune | 5552 |
| RoC-Shillong | 1256 |
| RoC-Uttarakhand | 555 |
| RoC-Vijayawada | 4918 |
| Total | 238223 |
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