What is Corporate social responsibility in the company law

Introduction Corporate social responsibility

As per the world bussiness council for sustainable development Corporate social responsibility is the continuing committment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quility of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. and interaction with their stackeholder.

Section 135 of the comapny act state that the company have to perform CSR if there net worth is 500 cr= asset-libility . 1000cr turn over = total sale, purchase, income and expenses. 5 cr net profit = income-expenses. According to schedule 7 provides for the corporate social resposibility in companies act 2013.

The company who have his financial status are allowed to do CSR.

Earlier it was totally on the companies consious whether it want to donnate 2% of the profit to society as corporate charity in 1998, it was not” mandatory”, later it was considered as “responsibility” but still it was do mandatory ,it gives guidelines that has to be mandates and later in 2013, it becomes “obligatory” in anture as it provide in section 135 it holds punishment in itselg in section 13(7).

Importance of Corporate social responsibility

  • CSR improves the public image by publisizing the efforts towards the better society and increase their chance of becoming favourable in the eyes of consumer.
  • CSR increases media coverage
  • It enhance the companys brand value by building a socially strong relationship with customers
  • it helps companies to stand out from the competition where companies are involved in any kind of community.

Driving force for adoption of Corporate social responsibility

  • Alturiusm
    • at the most basic level its about organisation and the peple that own and manage wanting to do good and help their communities at large level.
  • Employee satisfication
    • attracting and retaining staff is a goel of any organistion potiential employees want to known that the companies they work for are socially responsible.
  • regulatory complaince
    • compliance of the company law, it is mandatory to made CSR.

Mistakes to avoid on CSR efforts

  • short term planning
    • unlike financial reporting where cottenly gains are priced, CSR isn’t about short term gain but, rather about ling term planning that can deliver sustainable changes.
  • Green washing
    • green washing is the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a companies product are environmentally sound.
  • Inconsistent reporting
    • a big mistake to avoid is a lack of consistent reporting to be successful organisation on emust be accountable for CSR policies , one way to do that is with clear consistent and transparent reporting on CSR.

Kinds of Corporate social responsibility practices

  • Environment responsibility
    • In the modern era where climate change is the convinient truth it is important for organisation to embrace environment resposibility different approaches to enivornment CSR practies are
      • Reduce, reuse and recycle.
      • carbon off sets
      • sustainable practice
  • Ethical responsibility
    • acting in an ethical manner that is fair and responsible employeea as well as the customers and communities there are many ethicsal responsibility initiatives like :
      • diversity, equity and inclusion
      • fair treatment, treating employees user and communities fairly is a corner stone of the ethical best practices for CSR.
  • Philanthropic practices
    • the idea of giving back and being charitable is an important aspect of CSR
      • donations
      • community fund raising
      • voluntierism : employee should feel encouraged and supported to voluntier in the commuinity.
  • Economic responsibility
    • although making will always be a care goal for most company there are also economic practice behind CSR as well including the following
      • Honest disclosure
      • policy development
      • training: educating and training both staff and management can further promote CSR

Critical challenges and issues of CSR

  • Absence of community support for carrying out CSR activities
    • the local communiy does not show much enthusiam for supporting CSR initiatives as no real attempts have been made to raise the visiblity of CSR and build trust in the local population.
  • Concerns with transparency
    • one of the main problem identified by several industries experts that is lack of transparency, the corporation claim that there is an ambiguity on the side of the local authorities and agency since they do not make sufficient efforts to provide informations about their programmes audit concern and fund utilisations.
  • lack of NGO’s
    • it is also claimed that there is a lack of co-herent NGO’s in remote and lesss populated areas that can evaluate the specific needs of the population and colaborate with businesses.

Reference: orginal note written by Riya tiwari student of LLB यूनाइटेड यूनिवर्सिटी prayagraj uttar pradesh

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