Prelims 2024 · Economy · Question 90
With reference to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rules in India, consider the following statements:
- CSR rules specify that expenditures that benefit the company directly or its employees will not be considered as CSR activities.
- CSR rules do not specify minimum spending on CSR activities.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer
1 only
Statement 1: Correct. Under the Companies Act, 2013 and CSR Rules, activities undertaken in the normal course of business, or those benefiting only employees and their families, are not treated as CSR; CSR should benefit the wider community, not the company directly.
Statement 2: Incorrect. The law does specify a minimum benchmark: eligible companies are required to spend at least 2% of the average net profits of the preceding three financial years on CSR.
Therefore, only Statement 1 is correct.