IBBI Issues Amended Guidelines for Information Utilities

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has introduced a slew of amendments to the Guidelines for Technical Standards for the Performance of Core Services and Other Services under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Information Utilities) Regulations, 2017. The guidelines were earlier amended in 2020 and 2021. The updated technical standards provide additional procedural clarifications to Information Utilities (IUs) that manage financial records in insolvency cases. The updated guidelines strengthen identity verification and improve the process for submitting and authenticating default records.

IUs must now verify user identity using the Permanent Account Number (PAN) or other valid documents (OVD) and authenticate demographic details via the UIDAI database, requiring an AUA license. Supporting documents can be submitted in PDF or scanned image formats but must be electronically signed.

A key change is the introduction of the requirement for submitting default information before initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). Further, submitters can now file supporting documents separately from the Form C data, as long as they meet digital security standards. Form C reports a debtor’s financial details to an IU, including loans, security interests, and defaults. IUs will verify this information and seek debtor confirmation, notifying relevant parties. They must also track authentication emails sent to debtors, including recipient details and timestamps.

The updated guidelines add the option for marking the “Deemed to be Authenticated” status if debtors fail to respond to authentication requests after three reminders where default has been reported. Further, to improve clarity, a color-coding system will indicate the status of default information on IU platforms. Additionally, the Annexure on Form C fields has been removed.

Moreover, the IUs have been expressly allowed to store in their database the details of the recipient e-mail address, body of the mail, delivery status, time stamp, and any other details of all the authentication invitation e-mails generated by the system as per Regulation 21.