SEBI, vide its circular dated January 12, 2023 in order to allow maximum participation of unit holders in a meeting and for better governance allowed Investment Manager of the REITs to conduct meetings of unitholders through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means.
Regulation 22(3)(a) of SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 provides that an annual meeting of all unitholders shall be held not less than once a year within one hundred twenty days from the end of financial year and the time between two meetings shall not exceed fifteen months. Further, Manager of REITs are also required to hold meetings of unit holders for certain matters specified under SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014.
| While conducting meetings of unit holders through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means, the Investment Manager of the REITs is required to adopt the following procedures in addition to any other requirement specified under the SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 and circulars issued thereunder: |
| The recorded transcript of the meeting held through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means shall be maintained in safe custody of the Investment Manager of the REITs and shall also be uploaded by the Investment Manager of the REITs on the website of the REITs as soon as possible after the conclusion of the meeting.Convenience of different persons positioned in different time zones shall be kept in mind by the Investment Manager of the REITs before scheduling the meeting.All care must be taken to ensure that such meetings conducted through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means allow two-way teleconferencing for the ease of participation of the unitholders and the participants are allowed to pose questions concurrently or given time to submit questions in advance on the email address of the REITs.The facility for joining the meeting shall be kept open at least fifteen minutes before the time scheduled to start the meeting and shall not be closed until the expiry of fifteen minutes after such scheduled time.Before the actual date of the meeting, the facility of remote e-voting shall be provided.Only those unitholders that are present in the meeting and have not cast their vote on resolutions through remote e-voting and are otherwise not barred from doing so, shall be allowed to vote through the e-voting system at the meeting.The chairperson of the meeting shall satisfy himself and cause to record the same before considering the business in the meeting that all reasonable efforts have been made by the Manager of the REITs to enable unitholders to participate and vote on the items being considered in the meeting.The chairperson present at the meeting shall also ensure that the facility of e-voting system is available for the purpose of conducting a poll during the meeting held through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means on the business to be considered during the meeting.At least one independent director of Investment Manager of the REIT and the auditor of the REIT or his/her authorized representative who is qualified to be the auditor shall attend such meeting.The notice for the meetings of unitholder shall make disclosures with regard to the manner in which framework provided in this circulars hall be available for use by the unitholders and shall also contain clear instructions on how to access and participate in the meeting. Manager of the REITs shall also provide a helpline number through the registrar and share transfer agent, technology provider or otherwise, for unitholders who need assistance with the technology before or during the meeting. Such notice shall also include the following: (i) Statement that the meeting will be convened through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means in compliance with applicable provisions. (ii) The date and time of the meeting through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means. (iii) Availability of notice of the meeting on website of the REITs and stock exchanges. (iv) The manner in which unitholders who have not registered their e-mail address with REITs or depositories can cast their vote through remote e-voting or through the e-voting system during the meeting. (v) The manner in which the unitholders who have not registered their e-mail addresses with REITs or depositories can get the same registered. (vi) Any other detail considered necessary by the Investment Manager of the REITs. The notice to the unitholders may be given through emails registered with the REITs or with depositories.Manager of the REITs shall contact all unitholders whose email addresses are not registered with the depositories, over possible / available mode of communication for registration of their email addresses.Manager of REITs shall ensure that all other compliances associated with the provisions relating to meeting of unitholders are complied with and documents required to be provided to unitholders, if any, are provided through electronic mode. |
| Summary: The recorded transcript of the meeting shall be kept in the safe custody and shall be uploaded on website by managers.All care must be taken to ensure that such meetings conducted through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means allow two-way teleconferencing for the ease of participation of the unitholders.The facility for joining meeting shall be kept fifteen minutes before scheduled time and shall be closed after fifteen minutes from scheduled time of the meeting.The facility of remote e-voting shall be provided before actual date of the meeting.The chairperson of the meeting shall satisfy himself and cause to record the same before considering the business in the meeting that all reasonable efforts have been made by the Investment Manager to enable unitholders to participate and vote on the items being considered and shall also ensure that facility of e-voting is available in the meeting.At least one independent director of Manager of the REITs.Mandatory disclosures shall be made in the notice of the meeting. |
| Reporting and Monitoring: |
| (a) The Manager of the REITs shall disclose to the Stock Exchange and Trustee that the meeting of unit holders will be conducted through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means. (b) The trustee of the REITs shall attend meeting of unit holders and monitor the meetings conducted through Video Conferencing or Other Audio Visual means. |
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