MCA extends annual filings deadline to January 31, 2026, waives late fee

The MCA has extended the annual filing deadline by a month to January 31, 2026, with no additional fee, after professionals flagged persistent glitches on the V3 portal

In a relief to professionals and companies struggling to complete their annual filings on time, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on Tuesday gave a second extension for filing of financial statements and annual returns for another month, till January 31, 2026.

 

The MCA, in its notification, has also provided relaxation from any additional fees.

 

The earlier deadline was ending on December 31, 2025, after the MCA had given the first extension in September this year.

Why did the MCA extend the annual filings deadline again?

Version 3 of the MCA portal has been facing technical glitches such as frequent slowdowns and timeouts, according to professionals. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) had recently flagged various issues with the portal to the MCA. The ICSI told the MCA that even 15 days prior to the statutory due date, the MCA website had not been functioning properly, causing significant inconvenience to stakeholders.

 

What changed with the MCA portal’s V3 rollout?

The latest version of the MCA portal, with 38 new e-Forms, was launched on January 14. In version 2, forms were required to be filled and uploaded on the portal, while in V3, the forms are to be filled online. This was done to enable user convenience, including the ability to save a half-filled form and file it later.

 

The new version also includes a personalised “My Application” feature, which allows one to view all the forms filed by them till date, along with the status of the forms, such as pending for DSC upload, under processing, pay fees, and resubmission, among others.

What do the latest MCA data show on registrations?

Despite glitches on version 3 of the MCA portal, the total number of new companies registered in November 2025 went up 11 per cent year-on-year to 13,983, according to the MCA’s latest monthly information bulletin.

 

New limited liability partnerships for September 2025 to November 2025 were up 57 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. Total LLPs in the country as of November 2025 stood at 4,42,404, which was 21.5 per cent more than last year’s figure.

 

New registrations for director identification numbers went up 24 per cent in November 2025 to 39,406 compared to the same month last year.