In June 2021, plaintiff C was injured while working at a certain company. After being arbitrated by the Labor Dispute Arbitration Committee, a certain company paid the plaintiff C more than 28000 yuan in work-related injury benefits. Due to a company's failure to fulfill its payment obligations on time, plaintiff C applied to the court for compulsory enforcement. However, after exhausting property investigation measures, no enforceable property was found. Plaintiff C then filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting that shareholders A and B of a certain company be ordered to bear supplementary compensation liability for the work-related injury benefits that the company should pay to the plaintiff and the doubled debt interest paid during the period of delayed performance within the scope of unpaid capital. After investigation, it was found that A and B, as shareholders, registered and established a certain company with subscribed registered capital of 8 million yuan and 12 million yuan respectively, but did not reach the deadline for capital contribution and did not fulfill their capital contribution obligations.

After trial, the court held that according to Article 54 of the Company Law of the People's Republic of China, "If a company is unable to repay its due debts, the company or the creditors of the due debts have the right to demand that shareholders who have subscribed for capital but have not yet reached the capital contribution deadline pay their capital contributions in advance." Under the registered capital contribution system, shareholders enjoy the benefits of the capital contribution deadline. However, when it meets the legal requirements, shareholders lose the benefits of the capital contribution period and the capital contribution is accelerated to maturity.

In this case, the subscribed capital period of Party A and Party B has not yet expired, and they have not actually contributed capital. However, the work-related injury claim between plaintiff C and a certain company has been confirmed through effective arbitration by the Labor Dispute Arbitration Commission, and no enforceable property has been found in the company after compulsory enforcement by the people's court. For the debt that a certain company cannot repay, plaintiff C, as a creditor with matured debt, has the right to demand that shareholders A and B of the company pay their capital contributions in advance. According to Article 13 (2) of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Company Law of the People's Republic of China (III)", regarding the specific ways in which shareholders assume responsibility, if a company's creditor requests a shareholder who has not fulfilled or fully fulfilled their capital contribution obligations to bear supplementary compensation liability for the portion of the company's debt that cannot be repaid within the scope of the unpaid principal and interest, the people's court shall support it.

Therefore, the court ruled in accordance with the law that defendants A and B shall each bear supplementary compensation liability for the portion of the work-related injury benefits that should have been paid to company C and the debt interest that cannot be repaid during the delayed performance period within the range of 8 million yuan and 12 million yuan that were not contributed.

In the Company Law, the registered capital subscription system is implemented. Shareholders of a company are not required to immediately pay the full registered capital upon establishment, but can pay in installments within a certain period of time (such as several years). The "investment term benefit" enjoyed by shareholders aims to alleviate their short-term financial pressure while providing flexibility for the company. Although shareholders enjoy the benefit of the investment deadline, this benefit may be lost in certain circumstances. For example, the company is unable to repay its maturing debts. In this situation, the shareholder's contribution period benefits are "accelerated to maturity", and the shareholder must fulfill the contribution obligation in advance.

From the perspective of fairness principle, the loss of benefits during the investment period is to balance the interests between shareholders and creditors. In the event that the company is unable to repay its debts, shareholders cannot simply rely on the benefits of the investment deadline to evade responsibility, but need to assume corresponding obligations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of creditors. This rule reflects the "capital adequacy principle" in the Company Law, which means that the company's capital should be matched with its operating scale, and shareholders cannot abuse the subscription system to harm the interests of creditors.

In this case, the plaintiff C failed to realize its legitimate rights and interests through labor arbitration and compulsory enforcement procedures. According to relevant laws and regulations, shareholders A and B were ordered to bear supplementary compensation liability within the scope of non capital contribution, which is a manifestation of the accelerated expiration of the shareholder's capital contribution period.

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