Sir ... Sir, Can You Hear Me? Challenges And Upside Of Virtual AGMs

In any other year, India’s largest software services provider would have booked a large venue like in the past. Maybe the Birla Matoshri Sabhaghar, one of Mumbai’s oldest and largest auditoriums. And Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran and senior executives of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. would have been in the spotlight, fielding queries.

As the pandemic warrants distancing, this time the management and shareholders logged in virtually, kicking off the year’s annual general meeting season. The usual atmosphere was missing. The regulars weren’t reciting poetry, waxing eloquent or taking jibes. And screens went blank and came back alive, causing frequent interruptions.

It sets the tone for how this season of AGMs will go as the Ministry of Company Affairs has allowed India Inc. to conduct shareholder meets virtually with the nation battling to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. The confirmed tally of cases is nearing 3 lakh.

TCS’s meet, conducted via WebEx, began at 3:30 p.m. and the management logged in from TCS House, the Mumbai headquarters of the company. After the chairman’s address and Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Gopinathan’s presentation, the platform was opened for shareholder queries.

Upside And Challenges

The virtual AGM scored on one aspect. For the first time, shareholders outside Mumbai, from cities including Coimbatore, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, got an opportunity to participate and address questions directly to Chandrasekaran. Most of them were pleased with the performance of the company. The proceedings will be uploaded on the TCS website.

In all, 1,283 shareholders participated, according to Chandrasekaran, and 27 asked questions. Many who logged in and registered to ask questions weren’t online when their turn came. Others complained about problems with the video, which the TCS’s investor relations team attributed to the load on WebEx servers.

Based on this experience, the company will try and improve in the future, said Chandrasekaran. Yet, old habits will take time to change.

Many who had registered for the physical copy of the annual feedback report didn’t get it as the regulator barred printing during the pandemic. And some of the elderly shareholders found it difficult to navigate through the PDF copy.