Lok Sabha is set to take up six important bills for passing and consideration on Monday. Three out of the six bills will be taken up by the Ministry of Finance, headed by Nirmala Sitharaman. Here is a look at the key bills that will be tabled during the business hours in the Lok Sabha today:

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020:

This bill amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. The Act regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution (the donation or transfer of any currency, security or article by a foreign source).

Key highlights of the bill:

Under the Act, certain persons are prohibited to accept any foreign contribution. These include election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties, among others.

The Bill adds that any person seeking prior permission, registration or renewal of registration must provide the Aadhaar number of all its office bearers, directors or key functionaries, as an identification document.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020:

Key highlights of the ordinance:

As per the ordinance, the Code allows the corporate debtor as well as its creditors to initiate insolvency resolution process. The Ordinance provides that for defaults arising during the six months from March 25, 2020 (extendable up to one year), no insolvency proceedings can ever be initiated by either the corporate debtor or its creditors.

A director or a partner may be held liable if despite knowing that insolvency proceedings cannot be avoided, he did not exercise due diligence in minimising the potential loss to the creditors. The Ordinance removes this provision for defaults in the above period.

The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020: This billamends the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 under the ministry of health. The Act provides for the prevention of the spread of dangerous epidemic diseases.

Key highlights of the bill:

The Bill amends the Act to include protections for healthcare personnel combating epidemic diseases and expands the powers of the central government to prevent the spread of such diseases.

Persons convicted of offences under the Bill will also be liable to pay compensation to the healthcare service personnel whom they have hurt. In the case of damage or loss of property, the compensation payable to the victim will be twice the amount of the fair market value of the damaged or lost property, as determined by the Court.

HomeopathyCentral Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020: The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on September 14, 2020. The Bill amends the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973.

Key highlights of the bill:

The Act sets up the Central Council of Homoeopathy which regulates homoeopathic education and practice.

The 1973 Act was amended in 2018 to provide for the supersession of the Central Council of Homoeopathy. The Central Council was required to be reconstituted within one year from the date of its supersession.

The Bill amends the Act to increase the period for the supersession of the Central Council from two years to three years.

Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020: The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in Rajya Sabha on September 14, 2020. The Bill amends the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970.

Key highlights of the bill:

The Act provides for the constitution of a Central Council which regulates the education and practice of the Indian Medicine system (includes Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy).

The Board of Governors will consist of up to ten members. The members will include persons of eminence in the field of Indian Medicine, and eminent administrators. They may be either nominated members or ex officio members, appointed by the central government.

Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill,2020: The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 14, 2020. Under the ministry of Finance, the Bill seeks to amend the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 to widen the scope of entities which can engage in factoring business.

Key highlights of the bill:

The Bill amends the definition of receivables to mean any money owed by a debtor to the assignor for toll or for the use of any facility or services.

The Bill empowers RBI to make regulations for: (i) the manner of granting registration certificates to a factor, (ii) the manner of filing of transaction details with the Central Registry for transactions done through the TReDS, and (iii) any other matter as required.

First Published:Sept 21, 2020 2:46 PM IST