Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme extended to support pending statutory filings during ongoing data centre restoration work.
The validity of the Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 is extended to 31 August 2026, giving companies additional time to complete pending statutory filings. The extension is linked to ongoing data centre capacity enhancement and restoration work following a fire incident on 5 June 2026, and has been approved by the competent authority.

Filing relaxation for DPT-3 permits companies to submit delayed deposit returns without additional fees until 31 July 2026.
Relaxation is granted for filing Form DPT-3, the return of deposits, for the financial year 2025-2026 where the due date is 30 June 2026. Companies may file the form without payment of additional fees up to 31 July 2026, in view of capacity enhancement and restoration activities at the data center following a fire incident.

Single Judicial Member Benches authorised for uncontested insolvency and company law matters, with contested rights reserved for Division Benches.
Single Judicial Member Benches are authorised to hear specified procedural, uncontested, and urgent matters under the Companies Act, 2013 and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, including early hearing applications, completion of pleadings, condonation of delay, extension of CIRP or liquidation period where unopposed, extension of interim relief, substitution of IRP, RP or liquidator, substitution of parties or legal representatives, taking on record progress reports, taking on record constitution or reconstitution of the committee of creditors, and procedural directions to the Registry. Contested matters affecting substantive rights are excluded, and any party may request hearing before a Division Bench.

Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme offers reduced-fee delayed filings, dormant status, and striking off with limited immunity conditions.
Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 offers a one-time compliance window for pending annual return and financial statement filings, and for dormancy or striking off, on concessional fee terms. The Scheme runs from 15.04.2026 to 31.08.2026, applies to specified current and legacy e-forms, and excludes companies already under striking-off action, those that have already applied for striking off or dormant status, companies dissolved by amalgamation, and vanishing companies. It prescribes reduced fees for delayed filings, dormant status applications, and striking-off applications, and grants limited immunity for certain delayed filings subject to the stage of notice, prosecution, or adjudication.

Effective auditor governance communication requires timely two-way dialogue, documented control reporting, and clear audit committee engagement.
Strengthening communication between statutory auditors and those charged with governance, including audit committees, is reiterated as an integral part of the governance and audit framework under the Companies Act, 2013 and the Standards on Auditing. The circular emphasises that the board, independent directors, audit committees, management and auditors each have defined responsibilities in relation to approval of financial statements, oversight of financial reporting, evaluation of financial controls, audit independence, and monitoring of the audit process. Effective communication is presented as a joint and continuing obligation, designed to ensure timely visibility of audit planning, key risks, significant judgments, unusual transactions, internal control issues and matters affecting financial reporting oversight.

Companies annual filings for FY 2024-25 may be completed without additional fees until 31 January 2026.
Companies may file specified annual returns and financial statements for FY 2024-25 - including MGT-7, MGT-7A, AOC-4, AOC-4 CFS, AOC-4 NBFC (Ind AS), AOC-4 CFS NBFC (Ind AS) and AOC-4 (XBRL) - up to 31 January 2026 without payment of additional fees; all other requirements of General Circular No. 06/2025 remain unchanged.

Audit file preservation and submission rules require complete archival, evidentiary integrity, and timely production to the regulator.
Audit firms of Public Interest Entities must maintain complete audit documentation, assemble final audit files ordinarily within 60 days of the auditor's report, retain them ordinarily for at least seven years, and preserve them longer where legal or regulatory proceedings continue. Audit files requisitioned by the regulator must be submitted in complete form within seven days, and any extension request must be supported by documentary details and relevant audit records. Format conversions or post-archival alterations that impair evidentiary value are inconsistent with the standards.

Relaxation of Additional Fees: CRA 4 filing extension avoids extra fees for delayed cost audit XBRL submissions; later filings attract fees.
Filings of CRA-4 for the financial year ended 31.03.2025 made on or before 31.12.2025 will not attract any additional fees due to deployment of the MCA V3 portal; filings after that period will attract all applicable fees, including additional fees, as provided in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, from the date when such filings were originally due under Rule 6(6) of the Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014.

Annual filings: companies may file FY2024 25 e forms without additional fees until 31 December 2025 deadline.
Companies may file specified annual e forms for FY 2024-25 (MGT 7, MGT 7A, AOC 4 variants and AOC 4 XBRL) without payment of additional fees until 31 December 2025 to accommodate deployment of revised forms. This relief does not extend statutory time for holding AGMs; noncompliance remains liable to legal action. Filings after the circular's currency will attract all fees, including additional fees, under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, from the original due date.

Extension of KYC filing deadline allows DIR-3-KYC and DIR-3-KYC-WEB to be filed without fee.
The Ministry permits submission of e-form DIR-3-KYC and web-form DIR-3-KYC-WEB without payment of the filing fee for filings made up to 31st October, 2025, extending the compliance period and continuing relief from General Circular No. 04/2025, with approval of the Competent Authority.

Extension of director KYC filing deadline allows submission of DIR-3-KYC forms without fee until mid-October.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs permits filing of e-form DIR-3-KYC and web-form DIR-3-KYC-WEB without payment of the filing fee up to 15 October 2025, extending the fee-free window in response to stakeholder requests and authorised by the competent authority.

Virtual meetings: companies may hold AGMs and EGMs via video or audiovisual means, subject to statutory timelines.
Companies may hold Annual General Meetings by Video Conference or Other Audio Visual Means until further orders, following the requirements in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of General Circular No. 20/2020; this does not extend statutory time limits under the Companies Act, 2013 and non-compliance attracts liability. Extraordinary General Meetings may be held by Video Conference or Other Audio Visual Means or by postal ballot under the frameworks of previous circulars, with all other procedural requirements remaining applicable.

Independent filing of e Form CSR 2 permitted after MCA21 migration, with a temporary window for submissions on the V3 portal.
An amendment permitting independent filing of e Form CSR 2 and notification of V3 e Forms link CSR 2 to AOC 4 filings; with MCA21 V2 decommissioned, stakeholders holding V2 SRNs for AOC 4/AOC 4(XBRL)/AOC 4 (NBFC) may file CSR 2 separately on the V3 portal within a specified temporary window authorised by the competent authority.

Fee relaxation for specified corporate e form filings permits submissions without additional charges during MCA21 system transition.
Ministry permits filing of specified corporate e-forms without levy of additional fees where the due date or resubmission date falls within the transition window for migration of MCA21 from V2 to V3; the concession is a one-time administrative measure applicable to enumerated annual, financial statement, auditor, cost auditor, AGM-related and prospectus-related e-forms and is subject to the temporal boundaries prescribed by the Ministry.

Principal auditor responsibility in group audits requires obtaining sufficient appropriate evidence, not blind reliance on component auditors.
Principal auditors in group audits bear primary responsibility for the audit opinion on consolidated and group financial statements and must obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence about component financial information rather than mechanically relying on component auditors. SA 600 must be read with SA 200 and other related Standards and the Companies Act, 2013 obligations. The frequent use of the word 'should' in SA 600 does not render its procedures discretionary; such provisions are presumptively mandatory and must be performed or otherwise justified and documented by alternative procedures.

Virtual AGMs and EGMs allowed via VC/OAVM or postal ballot; statutory time limits under the Companies Act remain unchanged.
Companies with AGMs due in 2024 or 2025 may hold AGMs by video conference (VC) or other audio visual means (OAVM) on or before 30 September 2025 according to the requirements in paragraphs 3 and 4 of General Circular No. 20/2020; EGMs may likewise be held by VC/OAVM or items transacted by postal ballot under earlier circulars. The circular clarifies that this administrative allowance does not extend statutory timelines under the Companies Act, 2013, and noncompliant companies remain liable to legal action.

Investor Education and Protection Fund filings: forms consolidated and required transfers now payable online via MCA21 Pay Miscellaneous Fee.
Form IEPF 3 is merged with IEPF 4 and IEPF 7 with IEPF 1 in MCA Version 3, with revised forms enabled as Straight Through Process to ease compliance. Amounts required to be transferred under the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority Rules must be paid online through MCA21 using the "Pay Miscellaneous Fee" service selecting "Investor Education and Protection Fund", superseding the earlier circular and requiring stakeholders to update their filing and payment procedures.

IEPF filings transition relief: additional filing fees and specified e verifications waived, with one time relaxation for rule seven compliance.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has waived additional filing fees for specified IEPF e forms (IEPF 1, IEPF 1A, IEPF 2, IEPF 4) and for e verification of claims in e form IEPF 5 during the MCA21 V2 to V3 transition, and granted a one time relaxation for e verification under the third proviso to sub rule (3) of rule 7 of the IEPFA Rules to enable stakeholders to regularise filings without the additional fee.

Extension of time for PAS-7 filing: web-form on MCA portal allows filing without additional fees until the stated deadline.
Extension of time is provided for filing Form PAS-7 to report details of pre-Act share warrants under Rule 9(2)(a) of the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Rules, 2014. A Web-Form PAS-7 has been deployed on the MCA-21 online portal, and stakeholders may submit the requisite details without payment of additional fees through the Web-Form until 05.08.2024 to meet the Registrar reporting requirement.

Filing extension for BEN-2 and MGT-6 due to portal migration; additional time granted without extra fees.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs will introduce eForm MGT-6 and BEN-2 in MCA-21 Version 3.0 on 15 July 2024, rendering these forms unavailable in Version 2.0 during the migration window from 4 July 2024 to 14 July 2024. Where due dates for filing BEN-2 or MGT-6 fall within that migration period, stakeholders are allowed an additional 15 days to file without payment of additional fees, the concession having been approved by the Competent Authority.