Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) is a Group A service. Recruitment of ICLS officers is done through Civil Services Exam conducted by UPSC. Previously, the hiring was only through lateral entry – UPSC conducted an interview.
The Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) Academy under Ministry of Corporate Affairs is a Central Training Institute mandated to conduct Professional Course Programme, Mid-Career Training Programmes and other capacity-building programmes for the ICLS Officers and its subordinate feeder cadre. The Academy is located in the campus of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Plot 6,7,8, sector 5, IMT Manesar, Gurgaon – 122052.
Overview of the Profile/Role
- After 2008, ICLS officers are generalists in averse to CA/CS/lawyers. So as an ICLS officer, you need to equip yourselves with specialist knowledge of all the three professionals – i.e. CA, CS and lawyer and be better than all of them.
- So, being ICLS officer is a learning experience every day. It’s not a typical government job with mainly file-pushing but needs great aptitude and willingness to acquire knowledge and build expertise.
- The corporate sector in our country is growing at a rapid pace and is becoming more complex, and it is one of the highest contributors to our economy. While IRS delves deep into taxation domain, the domain of ICLS officers is much broader. ICLS deal with corporate governance in all its aspects such as -High profile cases like Satyam, Sahara has been investigated by ICLS officers.
- ICLS officers are involved in the overall lifecycle of a company – from its birth to closure. The most exciting part, though, is – there is still a lot of unexplored areas. With the coming of MCA 21 and further digitisation, the routine work is being reduced more and more – giving more time for officers for Enquiry, Inspection and Investigations.
- There is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is still in its early stages; there is Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), IBC, Producer Companies etc.
- Also, incoming future it is expected that more and more ICLS officers will be posted in Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), where presently two cadre posts are there, and in NCLT, and NCLAT etc. All this and more adds to the quantum and diversity of work of ICLS officers, making their work one of the most exciting among Central Group A services.
Eligibility Criteria
- The eligibility criteria is a graduate, preferably in the field of Accounts, Law, Finance (as stated by UPSC).
- Since it is a grade A central service, the mode of entry is via the Civil Services exam conducted by UPSC.
- You work in different departments like MCA, RoC, Ministry of Finance and contribute to corporate affairs.
- Lots of good work comes by your way where big law firm bosses need your nod to the approval of files.
Indian Corporate Law Services (ICLS) – Roles & Responsibilities
- ICLS officers need to administer the Companies Act, the LLP Act and a few other related acts.
- The Indian Corporate Law Services (ICLS) officers are posted at the Headquarters of the ministry of discharge various functions such as framing of policies, rules/regulations notifications etc.
- As Registrar of Companies (RoC), they must certify that all the companies file their annual returns and balance sheets in order to stay on track. They can also carry out an investigation and initiate prosecution against civil offences in this regard if they find something wrong with the documentation.
- As Official Liquidators (OLs), the officers are usually held accountable for liquidating the companies as per the order of the court. They are also in charge of taking control of the companies’ assets, recover debts, sell the company assets via public auction, etc.
- As Regional Directors (RD), they are heads in the hierarchy of the RD, and they supervise the work of the RoCs and the OLs.
ICLS – Grade system & Pay Scale
- Indian Corporate Law Service is a Group-’A’ service, in Pay Band-3 with Grade Pay Rs 5400/-. the normal time frame provided in service rules for promotion from one grade to another is as under:
- Junior Time Scale (GP- Rs 5400/-) to Senior Time Scale (GP- Rs 6600/-) = 04 years in JTS
- Senior Time Scale (GP- Rs 6600/-) to Junior Administrative Grade (GP- Rs. 7600) = 05 years in STS
- Junior Administrative Grade (GP- Rs. 7600) to JAG (Non-Functional Service Grade) (GP- Rs 8700/-) = 04 years in JAG
- JAG (NFSG) to Senior Administrative Grade (GP-Rs 10000/-) = 08 years in JAG + NFSG
- SAG to Higher Administrative Grade = 03 years in SAG
Destination and No. of posts included in various grades of the Indian Corporate Law Service
- Higher Administrative Crude (HAG) (Rs.67000-79000) – Director General of Corporate Affairs (DGCA) – 1 post
- Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) PB.4, Rs. 37400- 67000+Grade Pay Rs.10000) – Regional Director, Director of Inspection and Investigation and Director – 10 posts
- Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) PB-3 Rs. 15600-391001- Grade Pay Rs.7600)- Registrar of Companies, Official Liquidator, 64 Joint Director and Secretary, Cornpruly Law Board – 64 posts
- Senior time scale (STS) (PB-3, Rs.15600-39100- Grade Pay.Rs.6600) -Registrar of Companies, Official Liquidator, Deputy Registrar of Companies, Deputy Official Liquidator and Deputy Director – 80 posts
- Junior time scale (JTS) (PB-3, Rs.15600-39100- Grade Pay.Rs.6600)- 137 posts:
- Registrar of Companies
- Official Liquidator
- Registrar ‘of Companiesetun7 Official Liquidator
- Assistant Registrar of Companies
- Assistant Official Liquidator
- Assistant Director
- Bench Officer – Company Law Board
Note- Total posts – 292
For more information, visit- http://civilservices.com.
Summary/Overview
Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) is a Group A service. Recruitment of ICLS officers is done through CSE conducted by UPSC. Previously, the hiring was only through lateral entry – UPSC conducted an interview.
Areas covered in this article
- Overview of the profile/role
- Eligibility criteria
- Indian Corporate Law Services (ICLS) – Roles & Responsibilities
- ICLS – Grade system & Pay Scale
- Destination and No. of posts included in various grades of the Indian Corporate Law Service
Note- To get an overview of the exam’s nature and the eligibility criteria- click on the below-mentioned topic/link- UPSC CSE eligibility criteria and for other exams like- IAS and IPS.
For Grade B services of UPSC- click on- ITS and IRS.
P.S. You can check the official UPSC ICLS Exam notification with the help of below-mentioned link- https://www.upsc.gov.in/exams-related-info/exam-notification.