The Institute of Companies Secretaries of India (ICSI) wrote to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) requesting the extension in the timelines for annual filing of e-forms.

The ICSI in the letter appreciated various schemes introduced by the MCA in providing relief and reducing the financial burden in the difficult times viz. Companies Fresh Start Scheme, 2020, LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 and Scheme for relaxation of time for filing forms related to creation or modification of charges, which were extended till 31st December, 2020 and the recently introduced Scheme for condonation of delay for the companies restored on Register of Companies between 1st December, 2020 and 31st December, 2020 under section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013, effective from 1 February, 2021.

In terms of the provisions of Section 96(1) of Companies Act, 2013 companies are required to hold Annual General Meeting (AGM) within a period of six months from the date of closing of the financial year. The ICSI in letter requested the Registrar of Companies (ROC) may, for any special reason, extend the time within which AGM shall be held by a period not exceeding three months.

“The timelines for filing of returns by other regulatory regimes such as Income tax and GST were also extended upto 31 December, 2020. There are many companies holding AGMs on or before 31 December, 2020 which are required to file the financial statements and annual return on or before 30th January, 2021 and 2nd March, 2021 respectively,” the letter said.

The letter further added, in case of c-form AOC-4. requiring XBRL filing, there is a requirement of tagging respective items or figures which is a time consuming process. There are many companies and professionals who have been engaged in necessary filings under the aforesaid schemes and in completing the assignments under other regulatory regimes such as Income Tax and GST. The ICSI said that on account of pandemic and challenges related thereto many companies are yet to file c-form AOC-4, AOC-4(XBRI), MGT-7 and DIR-3 KYC and request your goodself to consider providing extension of the timelines for annual filing of e-forms AOC-4, AOC-4 (XBRL), MGT-7 and DIR-3 KYC till 31 March. 2021.