The good, the bad and the ugly of the new Corporate Social Responsibility Policy Like any new rule meant to clean up, this one too will face short-term challenges till the industry adapts to the new order. Synopsis With a Covid pandemic still upon us, is this the right time to adopt a stringent CSR policy? Of course, these amendments were in the works for a long time. But, then, will this stop the widely relevant ‘payback practices’? According to the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Amendment Rules, 2021, which came into effect from January 22, a company now needs to spend 2% of the average net profit of the previous three financial years on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity. A chief financial officer (CFO) will now have to factor in CSR as a major element in her tax planning since the new rules make it close to impossible to save on the