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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Party floats corporate RTI by Sanjay K Jha

Party floats corporate RTI by Sanjay K Jha

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published Published on Dec 20, 2010   modified Modified on Dec 20, 2010

The Congress has proposed the introduction of an RTI-like legislation exclusively for “corporate corridors”, floating what looks like a nascent idea at a time some industrialists have criticised the government after the leak of the Niira Radia tapes.

The suggestion was made in the latest issue of the Congress mouthpiece Sandesh and released today at the plenary where Sonia made an anti-corruption drive the cornerstone of her speech.

“The Right to Information (RTI) Act has empowered every citizen to have access to the corridors of the government. There is a growing demand that a similar mechanism for corporate corridors should be created so that the concept of total transparency could be achieved. This demand needs proper attention,” the editorial said.

It is not clear yet if the suggestion is a scare tactic or the party intends to pursue the proposal actively.

Any RTI-style legislation is certain to stir controversy as companies are accountable principally to their shareholders. But shareholder activism hasn’t really caught on in India and managements have found it more or less easy to keep many pesky activists at bay.

Legislation governing corporate disclosures is weak in the country, compared with standards that have been established in the West. Enforcement of corporate disclosure is even weaker.

The Companies Act of 1956 – which is due to be overhauled – lays down the broad principles of corporate disclosure.

In general, listed companies are forced to conform to a higher standard of disclosure because of regulatory oversight by the market regulator, Sebi, which vets the prospectus before allowing companies to raise money through a public issue.

The listing agreement that companies sign with the stock exchanges also enjoins companies to provide information whenever a market-moving event occurs.

After the spectacular accounting scandals in the US involving corporations like Enron and Tyco, America passed the famed Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) which enhanced disclosure requirements for all publicly listed companies and mandated that senior executives of the company would have to assume individual responsibility for the accuracy of these financial disclosures.

There is nothing like the SOX in India. Neither is there anything as broad and wide as the Right to Information Act in corporate governance.

The biggest criticism against the RTI Act is that it has become an instrument for some activists to ferret information and use it as a harassment tool.

This isn’t the first time that the UPA government is talking about foisting unpalatable elements of public policy on India Inc. Some years ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had talked of using moral suasion to get private companies to implement job reservations, sparking outrage over the manner in which the UPA was trying to push its agenda on affirmative action.

The talk of extending an RTI-style legislation to private companies is bound to evoke similar sentiment even as it raises questions about how such a system of accountability would work.

Moreover, companies can always throw out requests for information on the ground that a disclosure of corporate secrets would undermine its competitive advantage at the marketplace.


The Telegraph, 20 December, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101220/jsp/nation/story_13323453.jsp


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