The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”), on September 23, 2021, had directed the Registrar of Companies (RoCs) to accord approval for extension of time by 2 (two) months, i.e. till November 30, 2021, for holding of annual general meeting (“AGM”) for the financial year 2020-2021 ended on March 31, 2021. In furtherance of the aforesaid extension in holding of AGM and in the interest of the stakeholders,the MCA has decided to charge only normal fees upto December 31, 2021 for filing of financial statements and annual returns, to be filed in the respective e-forms, for the financial year ended on March 31, 2021. The exempted e-forms are as follows:
| Sr. No. | Form | Particulars |
| 1. | AOC-4 | Form for filing financial statement and other documents with the registrar |
| 2. | AOC-4 (CFS) | Form for filing consolidated financial statements and other documents with the registrar for NBFCs |
| 3. | AOC-4 XBRL | Form for filing XBRL document in respect of financial statement and other documents by a company with the registrar |
| 4. | AOC-4 Non-XBRL | Form for filing financial statement and other documents with the registrar |
| 5. | MGT-7 | Form for filing annual return by a company |
| 6. | MGT-7A | Form for filing annual return by a one person company and a small company |
The aforesaid extension of the timeline has been notified by MCA vide its General Circular no. 17/2021 dated October 29, 2021.
It may be noted that pursuant to sub clause (4) of Section 92 of the Companies Act, 2013, the annual return (Form MGT-7/MGT-7A) is to be filed within 60 (sixty) days from the date on which the AGM is held or should have been held. Therefore, in line with the extension of time for holding AGM till November 30, 2021, a company holding its AGM on November 30, 2021 (or a company failing to hold AGM by November 30, 2021) should be able to file Form MGT-7/MGT-7A by January 29, 2022 in accordance with the time period specified under the Companies Act, 2013, without having to pay any additional fees. MCA needs to provide a clarification in this regard and until such time, normal charges for filing Form MGT-7/ MGT-7A will be applicable only till December 31, 2021.