SEBI lists 120 companies as ‘untraceable’

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has classified 120 cases (companies) as untraceable out of 692 cases in the ‘difficult to recover’ category with dues to the tune of Rs 73,287 crore as of March 2023.

The number of untraceable companies rose from 94 in March 2022, Sebi said. These untraceable companies are believed to be vanishing companies which disappeared after raising funds from the public.

Further, there were 341 companies in the ‘defunct company’ category as of March 2023 as against 238 in the previous year, Sebi said in its Annual Report. There were 83 defaulters who are alive but without any attachable assets as against 49 cases in the previous year.

There are 307 cases involving Rs 88,127 crore pending before various courts, tribunals and other fora related to matters where recovery certificates are drawn.