PFS could not hold board meeting in absence of independent directors

New Delhi: Power solution provider PTC India arm PTC India Financial Services (PFS) board could not hold its scheduled board meeting on Saturday in the absence of all independent directors, a source said.

On Wednesday, the three independent directors -- Kamlesh Shivji Vikamsey, Santosh B Nayar and Thomas Mathew -- resigned enmasse from the board of PFS citing corporate governance issues.

The source told PTI that the PFS cannot hold board meeting in the absence of all three independent directors as per the norms of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The source also stated that now the company will have to seek SEBI permission or exemption for holding its board meeting.

The queries sent to PFS remained unanswered.

Earlier on Friday, PTC India CMD Rajib Kumar Mishra had told in a virtual press conference that PFS board will be meeting on Saturday. However, he had not divulged the details about agenda of the meeting saying it was confidential.

At present, there are three members on board of the PFC, Rajib Kumar Mishra (CMD of PTC India), Pankaj Goel (CFO PTC India) and PFS MD and CEO Pawan Singh.

Earlier this week, independent director of the PTC India, Rakesh Kacker, in his resignation letter, had said that despite best efforts, the "independent directors could not convince the management of PTC and PFS to take proper action to run the company in accordance with what we considered the correct course of action".

"As a result, the company is now facing serious governance issues with several defaults of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. Due to this, the operations of the company also must have been affected," he had said in the letter.

PFS, a systemically-important Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC), is promoted by PTC India.