India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs has extended deadlines for companies struggling with technical problems on the MCA 21 portal, while warning that annual general meeting obligations remain unchanged.
India’s corporate affairs ministry has pushed back the filing deadlines for annual company accounts and returns after businesses and professionals complained of continuing problems on the MCA 21 portal. According to a circular issued on October 24, companies now have until December 31, 2026, to file annual financial statements for 2025-26, while annual returns may be submitted up to January 31, 2027.
The relief covers several key e-forms used under the Companies Act, including AOC-4, AOC-4 (CFS), AOC-4 (XBRL), AOC-4 NBFC (Ind AS) and AOC-4 CFS NBFC (Ind AS). For annual returns, the extension applies to MGT-7 and MGT-7A. The ministry said the move was intended to give companies more time to complete statutory filings and would not attract an additional fee.
The decision follows repeated complaints from stakeholders about technical difficulties on the MCA 21 V3 portal, which is used for mandatory filings under the Companies Act. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India had urged the ministry to extend the deadlines, citing portal downtime, login failures and other glitches, along with the added compliance burden created by revised disclosure requirements. In a statement on Sunday, the institute said the extra time would provide “critical breathing room” for companies adapting to the new system.
The ministry also stressed that the extension does not alter the legal timetable for holding annual general meetings. Companies that miss those deadlines remain exposed to action under the Companies Act. In practice, that means the filing relief should not be mistaken for a broader waiver of corporate compliance obligations, only a temporary easing of the reporting window as users continue to face problems on the digital platform.
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