- Company Law
- FAQ
- FAQs on Annual Filing Forms
This FAQ provides clear and practical guidance on the annual filing forms required under the Companies Act, 2013, helping companies understand their statutory compliance obligations. It explains which forms are applicable, due dates, documents to be attached, penalties for delay or non-filing, and common filing issues. The FAQ is designed to assist directors, professionals, and compliance teams in ensuring timely and accurate filing of annual returns and financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (ROC).
| Sl.No. | Form ID | Issues - Queries | Response |
| 1 | AOC-4 | Enter 'Valid SRN of ADT-1 error' while filing AOC-4 form. | Please ensure that the entered SRN of ADT-1 should be Approved, associated with Company, and F.Y. end date selected in AOC-4 should fall between from and to date mentioned in ADT-1 SRN. |
| 2 | AOC-4 | No figures are getting prefilled for 'Trade payable' and 'Other income' against previous year numbers. | Please provide the previous year's value as these two fields have been divided into multiple fields to comply with Schedule III requirements. |
| 3 | AOC-4 | How to access AOC-4 Offline form? | a. Go to the MCA Services menu of the menu navigation bar - Go to Company e-Filing - Go to Annual Filings - Go to Form AOC-4- Form for filing financial statement and other documents- OFFLINE. b. Please enable pop-ups in browser setting to facilitate opening of the form in a separate window. |
| 4 | AOC-4 Offline | Key points to note while filing AOC-4 Offline form. | a. Please make sure to provide correct information in web layout in both parent and linked forms to avoid regeneration of excel templates. b. Read the relevant offline instruction kits while filing the form. c. Use MS excel version 2021+ / Office 365 to edit this excel templates. d. In case any field is mandatory and becomes mandatory based on the options selected in the form, fields cannot be left blank. please ensure to enter '0'. |
| 5 | AOC-4 XBRL | Validation tool issues - AOC-4 XBRL. | The software vendors should use latest schema URL for V3 MCA XBRL Validation tool for all taxonomies in MCA V3 portal as given below:- The new schema URL is: https://www.mca.gov.in/V3XBRL/ replaces the V2 Schema URL http://www.mca.gov.in/XBRL/ MCA XBRL Validation Tool V5.0 New Version of MCA XBRL Validation Tool has been released for C&I and IND-AS Taxonomies. Stakeholders are requested to download new version of MCA XBRL Validation Tool while filing AOC-4 XBRL. |
| 6 | AOC-4 XBRL | What are the steps involved in validating the XML document using the Validation tool? | a. Download the XBRL Validation Tool zip file from: https://www.mca.gov.in/content/mca/global/en/xbrl.html b. Double click on extracted executable file 'XBRLTool.exe‘. c. Select the Download Taxonomy under Taxonomy menu. (This step is not required if taxonomy has been already downloaded before). d. Once downloaded, select downloaded taxonomy from the Select Taxonomy option under Taxonomy menu. e. Open the XBRL instance document under File menu. f. Select Validate from File menu to validate the instance document. g. Select Prescrutiny from File menu to scrutinize the instance document after validation. |
| 7 | Common | SRN is getting cancelled before expiry date. | Validity to upload DSC affixed PDF is 15 days from the date of SRN generation and not from the last modified date. Please make sure to upload the PDF within 15 days from the date of SRN generation. |
| 8 | Common | Is it mandatory to upload the DSC affixed PDF within the waiver period to get the benefit of additional fee waiver? | Yes. Fee waiver for filing Financial Statements and Annual Returns for the FY 2024-25 is applicable only until 31st January 2026. To benefit from this fee waiver, users must upload the DSC-affixed PDF on or before this date. |
| 9 | Common | Form submission/save issues ('Cannot proceed', submit not enabled). | The page is divided into multiple sections, and each section has save button. When user clicks on Edit button in application history, users are required to click all prior Save buttons to enter any details in subsequent sections or to enable the next save button. |
| 10 | Common | PDF download/generation failed. | a. User are required to wait for few seconds after submitting the form before clicking on to the download button. b. If user is still facing issue, please proceed to edit and submit the form again to generate the PDF. |
| 11 | Common | PDF version incorrect (upload error). | The user has downloaded and signed the PDF. While uploading PDF, users are uploading the previous version of PDF. Please ensure to download the latest PDF and upload the latest version. |
| 12 | Common | Payment Deducted Challan not generated. | Users need to wait for 4 hours to get confirmation of Payment from bank. |
| 13 | Common | Frequent logout issue. | Please do not keep multiple MCA tabs open simultaneously, as this may result in automatic logout. Please user different browse to view or access any other information on the MCA portal to avoid session conflicts. |
| 14 | Common | DSC is not registered/not valid. | If you are facing DSC related issues, please follow the below instructions – a. Issue related to DSC Association To associate DSC to your user account, please login to your MCA account then follow the link MCA Services -> FO Services -> Associate DSC and then associate your DSC. Please note there is no separate way to remove DSC from your account, to remove DSC from your account please follow the association process. Also note that Company / LLP user cannot associate DSC. b. Issue related to affixing DSC in forms If you are facing issue when you are affixing DSC in the signed PDF / signing the form. Please make sure the DSC which you are associating is already associated with your user id. Also make sure that you are affixing the DSC by clicking on the box provided c. Ensure attached DSC is valid and not expired. d. After affixing the DSC, please ensure that all DSC’s are Valid and appearing green tick. |
| 15 | ADT-1 | ADT-3 SRN entered instead of ADT-1 SRN in field 7(b). | The users are providing the SRN of ADT-3 in place of SRN of ADT-1 while filing the e-form ADT-1 for the appointment of auditor in casual vacancy. |
| 16 | ADT-1 | Sole Proprietorship PAN Validation Issue. The users having Sole Proprietorship Firm are selecting the option for "Firm" in field 4(d) due to which they have to provide PAN in two fields, i.e., 4(f)(i) and 4(h)(i), but facing validation error that the PAN provided in both fields should be different. |
If you encounter a 'PAN Validation Error' while appointing an auditor who operates as a 'Sole Proprietorship firm', please ensure that you select the Category of auditor as "Individual" in the Form ADT-1. |
| 17 | ADT-1 | ADT-1 - Overlapping Dates Issue. Users attempt duplicate filings for same financial year, triggering Validation error. |
Users are advised to avoid duplicate filings and do not re-file Form ADT-1 for the same financial year if it has already been duly submitted and approved. In case of any further issues, please raise ticket and the resolution will be provided accordingly. |
| 18 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | Small company threshold limit increase. | As per the recent amendment, the thresholds limits of paid-up capital and turnover to define the ‘small company’ has been revised from 4 crore to 10 crore and from 40 crore to 100 crore, respectively. Accordingly, the small company status is determined as on the date of filing the relevant form. Therefore, if your company falls within these revised limits as per the previous year filings or the current financial year AOC-4 form is filed and approved, you are required to file Form MGT-7A instead of Form MGT-7 |
| 19 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | Company is filing Form MGT-7A under the revised small company limits, and MGT-8 certification applies but MGT-7A lacks a section for the MGT-8 certification. | When submitting Form MGT-7A, if your company is subject to the certification requirements outlined for Form MGT-8, you may include the certified Form MGT-8 as an optional attachment with your filing. Please note that Form MGT-7A does not contain a designated field for entering MGT-8 details; attaching the certified document satisfies the necessary compliance obligations. |
| 20 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | Small company flag update issues to file MGT-7/MGT-7A. | Small company logic is checked as on the date of filing of the form. - Companies are required to file their annual filing forms in sequential manner in case small company flag changes are there in subsequent year filings. - In case small company becomes holding or subsidiary company during the current reporting period, company has to file AOC-4/AOC-4 XBRL/AOC-4 NBFC to update small company flag as ‘No’ and then proceed to file MGT-7. - In case normal company become small company, company has to file AOC-4/AOC-4 XBRL/AOC-4 NBFC to update small company flag as ‘Yes and then proceed to file MGT-7A. |
| 21 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | Gender wise shareholder details are mandatory in MGT-7/MGT-7A. NSDL is not providing this information whereas form mandates this information. | Please provide whatever information is available along with clarification letter in the optional attachment. |
| 22 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | FII shareholding - Date of incorporation is mandatory. Date of incorporation is not available for FIIs. | This is mandatory requirement and companies are required to provide the same. |
| 23 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | List of shareholders to be attached with validation file' or without validation file? | This attachment can be uploaded either in macro-enabled pre-defined sheet or normal excel sheet or CSV without in any validations/conditions. For MGT-7, excel files are allowed up to 300 MB [15 files of 20 MB each]and for MGT-7A, excel file size should be up to 2 MB only. |
| 24 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | MGT-7: Excel upload/template not working. | a. Date Format Issue: Errors occur due to mismatched date formats. The Excel template uses the DD/MM/YYYY format, while the user’s system may follow a different format. b. Version Compatibility: Users sometimes fill details in an Excel version different from the one prescribed by MCA[Use MS excel version 2021+], leading to compatibility issues. |
| 25 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | Photograph attachment related clarification. | It is mandatory to attach latest ‘Photograph of the registered office of the Company showing external building and name & address prominently visible’ as aligned with the requirements specified in Section 12(3)(a) of the Companies Act-2013. |
| 26 | MGT-7/MGT-7A | MGT-7 PDF is not downloading 'List of shareholders' attachment. | Due to a large Excel file, the shareholder list in MGT-7 will not be visible in the downloaded PDF. |
| 27 | CSR-2 | Where can I access Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs] on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issued by MCA. | Please refer to General Circular No.14/2021 dated 25-08-2021 provided in the link below for FAQs issued by MCA on CSR. https://www.csr.gov.in/content/csr/global/master/home/helpandfaqs.html or https://www.mca.gov.in/bin/ebook/dms/getdocument?doc=MzU0NzM=&docCategory=Circulars&type=open |
| 28 | Common | How to rectify an inadvertent error/clerical mistake in a form that has already been approved under the STP mode, and you're now facing issues with subsequent form filings. | Please contact your Jurisdictional ROC (JROC) to mark the STP SRN as defective and file fresh form with correct details. |
Author Bio
Saurabh Kesarwani
Company: TVA CO & LLP
Designation: CS Management Trainee
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Gender: male
A dedicated CS Trainee with a passion for corporate governance and the "fine print" of legal documentation. View Full Profile
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