MC Exclusive: PR Sundar, Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar found to have two DINs, in violation of law

PR Sundar's two DINs are linked to two different companies with names that are just slightly altered.

Finfluencer PR Sundar may find himself in hot water again. Moneycontrol has learnt that he and Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar, co-promoter of Mansun Consultancy, have two Director Identification Numbers (DINs).

After Moneycontrol reached out to him for clarification, he said that the DINs got earlier will be surrendered on June 1.

A person isn’t allowed to have more than one DIN to their name. Under Section 155 of the Companies Act 2013, no individual, who has already been allotted a DIN, shall apply for or obtain or possess another DIN.

Records show that PR Sundar has DINs 02987345 and 07848296 and Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar has DINs 02987314 and 07848221.

While 02987345 and 02987314 link the two to a company named Sunman Consultancy Limited, 07848296 and 07848221 link the two to the company with a slightly altered name - Mansun Consultancy.

The directors’ names have been spelt slightly differently for both and the contact addresses given are also different. For Sunman, the directors’ names have been spelt as Mangaiyarkarasi Sundar and Purisai- Rajamani Sundar; and the contact address has been given as Flat 8D, Block 4, Shanthi Towers, Old No 88, New Number 4, Arcot Road, Vadapalani, Chennai 6000026. For Mansun, the directors’ names have been spelt as Mangaiyarkarasisundar and Purisairajamanisundar, without the spaces in between; and the contact address has been given as 113-134, Anna Salai, Raheja Towers, 411- fourth floor, Chennai, Tamil Nadu - 600002.

The only thing common to the two was the contact email id: ashwin95@gmail.com.

Sunman, which was incorporated in 2010 and with company identification number U67190TN2010PTC075195, is a defunct company now. Mansun Consultancy is the one that was recently banned, along with its promoters, from the securities market for having given investment advisory services without proper registration.

In a conversation with Moneycontrol, Sundar said that he had no idea that there were two DINs attached to his name. He said that he had got them registered through two different agencies because they involve a lot of paperwork, and therefore did not know about the two existing independently.

He said that now that he has been informed, he will be surrendering the first on June 1, as his auditor has advised him to.

Pramod SM, a lawyer and company secretary with decades of experience, said that it is highly unlikely that a person does not know that he/she has two DINs in their name.

"Regular updates are sent to people on their contact phone numbers or email IDs," said Pramod.

Both Sunman and Mansun have the same contact email id, which is ashwin95@gmail.com. Therefore, updates for both DINs should have been coming on the same email ID.

Pramod said that even if a DIN has been inactive, like one of Sundar's is, that does not mean that it has ceased to exist. An inactive DIN can be activated in a day by filling a form and paying Rs 5,000, he said.

But what is the harm in having two DINs?

"A person is not allowed to be the director of more than 20 companies. The only way for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to track that this is followed is through the DIN. If a person has more than one, then that person can hold 20 plus 20 directorships," said Pramod.