The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on Tuesday allowed companies to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) through video conferencing (VC) or any other audio-visual means during 2020. This follows the ministry’s decision to allow companies to conduct extra-ordinary general meeting (EGMs) through VCs. In view of the continuing restrictions on movement of people because of covid-19 lockdown, it has been decided that the companies be allowed to conduct their AGM through video conferencing, MCA said in the notification. While the notification resolved the big issue of holding an AGM rather than avoiding it, there are still lot of unanswered questions. The MCA notification is silent on recording of attendance of members, proxies and their rights to vote, manner of raising queries and their responses, recording of minutes. Also, companies would need to ensure certain checks and balances that the annual exercise of company disclosures and stakeholder consultations does not become futile. Firms would need to ensure that shareholders can cast their votes through the e-voting system – a settled principle under Companies Act 2013. In these meetings, the companies would consider only items, other than ordinary business, of special business, which are deemed unavoidable by the board, the ministry said.