The Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced on Tuesday that it has extended the deadline for filing financial statements and annual returns under the Companies Act to January 31, 2026.
The extension of the deadline, originally set for December 31, comes after several users reported technical glitches, frequent timeouts and other system-related issues on the MCA portal as they tried to complete their submissions.
These filings are for the 2024-25 financial year and include the mandatory disclosures that companies are required to make annually under the Companies Act.
“In view of the representations received from the stakeholders, the competent authority has decided to allow the companies to complete their annual filings relating to the fiscal year 2024-25 by January 31, 2026 without paying any additional fees,” the ministry said in an official statement.
Key details about the extension
As clarified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, any submission made within the revised deadline will not be charged.
The relaxation relates specifically to the filing of electronic forms MGT-7, MGT-7A, AOC-4, AOC-4 CFS, AOC-4 NBFC (Ind AS), AOC-4 CFS NBFC (Ind AS) and AOC-4 (XBRL).
The Ministry further stated that all other requirements listed in the previous General Circular No. 06/2025 remain unchanged, only the deadline for submitting these forms has been extended.
What is an MCA filing and who should file it?
MCA filing refers to the mandatory submission of legal documents, financial statements and returns by Indian companies and LLPs to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs through the Registrar of Companies (ROC) for compliance, transparency and maintaining their legal status.
The purpose of the filing is to provide regulatory authorities with updated information on the company’s financial performance, management structure and overall status.
These submissions sent through the MCA portal include regular reports such as annual returns and forms for event-based changes including director appointments and office shifts.
What problems have users reported before?
Just a day earlier, hundreds of users took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to say that technical issues had disrupted the filing of companies’ annual reports ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline.
When several social media users reported issues on the MCA portal, “Extend due date immediately” started appearing on X.
In dozens of posts, social media users demanded that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs grant an extension to December 31 to give companies enough time to complete their filings without risking errors or penalties due to technical glitches.
