Two days before the deadline, one-third companies file financial statements

About 30 per cent of the total active companies filed their financial statements and much less submitted annual returns as on October 27, 2023 for the last financial year, according to data shared by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on Sunday.  

According to the MCA data, during 2023-24, 386,000 financial statements and 208,000 annual returns have been filed against 228,000 financial statements, and 144,000 annual returns filed during the corresponding period of the last financial year.

The MCA has asked stakeholders to file both these returns before the deadline on October 29. Last year too, the MCA had put out a similar request to stakeholders in order to avoid overburdening of the portal. Those who file returns after the due date would have to pay a penalty of Rs 100 for each day’s delay.

The MCA has directed that companies can file annual returns and financial statements on Version 2 of the portal instead of the new version 3. “We want to stabilise the new version 3 before moving these two filings there,” a senior government official said. Limited Liability Partnerships, however, can use Version 3 to file the two returns.

As on January 31, the total number of companies registered under the Companies Act stood at 2.46 million. Of these 1.51 million were active companies, including 258,850 that were incorporated within the preceding 18 months, the August newsletter of MCA stated.