New Delhi, Oct 2026 : The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has extended the deadlines for companies to file financial statements and annual returns for the financial year 2025-26 without paying additional fees, providing relief to businesses facing difficulties in completing statutory compliance requirements.
According to an MCA circular, companies can now submit financial statements by December 31, 2026, without additional fees. The deadline for filing annual returns through Forms MGT-7 and MGT-7A has been extended to January 31, 2027.
The ministry said the decision followed representations from stakeholders seeking additional time to complete mandatory corporate filings.
Extended Deadlines for AOC-4 and MGT Forms
The extension covers various versions of Form AOC-4, used by companies to file financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). These include forms for consolidated financial statements, financial statements submitted in XBRL (machine-readable digital reporting) format and applicable forms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
Annual returns filed through Forms MGT-7 and MGT-7A will also benefit from the extended deadline.
Form MGT-7 is used by companies to submit their annual returns, while MGT-7A is designed for one-person companies and small companies.
The revised timelines are expected to give companies, company secretaries and other compliance professionals additional time to complete filings and address technical issues without incurring additional filing fees within the extended periods.
MCA-21 Portal Issues Prompt Calls for Relief
The extension comes amid concerns from company secretaries and other professionals over technical difficulties on the MCA-21 Version 3 portal, the ministry’s online platform for statutory filings, corporate registry services and compliance-related activities.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) had requested an extension until December 31, 2026, without additional fees, citing frequent portal downtime and slow response times.
Reported problems included session timeouts, automatic logouts during form preparation and submission, difficulties accessing accounts, and issues involving profile updates and user access management.
Professionals also flagged errors in pre-filled information and inconsistencies in data retrieval, which could complicate the filing process and delay statutory submissions.
Previous Filing Extensions
The MCA had also granted two extensions for annual filings relating to FY 2024-25 through circulars issued on October 17, 2025, and December 30, 2025.
The latest decision provides companies with additional time to meet their FY26 compliance obligations amid continuing concerns about the functioning of the online filing system.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
