Annual filings and secretarial compliance
Two things repeat every year for most companies: the annual filings themselves, and the standing obligation to keep statutory registers and minutes current. Both changed materially in the last twelve months.
The recurring clock: AOC-4, MGT-7 and the AGM
The AGM must be held within six months of financial year-end (nine months for the first AGM after incorporation), with no more than fifteen months between two AGMs. Form AOC-4 (financial statements) follows within 30 days of the AGM; Form MGT-7, or the abridged MGT-7A for a One Person Company or a small company, follows within 60 days. Both carry a flat ₹100-per-day additional fee for delay, running from day one.
The small-company threshold nearly doubled on 1 December 2025. Paid-up capital rose from ₹4 crore to ₹10 crore, and turnover from ₹40 crore to ₹100 crore. Whether a company qualifies as "small" determines a real list of lighter obligations: MGT-7A instead of the full MGT-7, no mandatory auditor rotation, fewer required board meetings, lower penalties on several defaults. A company that didn't qualify eighteen months ago may qualify now; it's worth rechecking rather than assuming the earlier answer still holds. Public companies, and companies that are themselves a holding or subsidiary company, don't qualify as "small" regardless of how their financials compare to the thresholds.
Director KYC changed too: DIR-3 KYC moved from an annual filing to a once-every-three-years cycle, effective 31 March 2026, though a director whose mobile, email or address changes must still update it within 30 days in between the triennial filings.
Secretarial compliance: registers, minutes, and who needs a secretarial audit
The statutory registers (members, directors and key managerial personnel, charges, contracts with related parties, significant beneficial owners, loans and investments) are a standing obligation, not a one-time setup task; several require updates within days of the triggering event. Board and general-meeting minutes must be entered in the minutes book within 30 days of the meeting. The Secretarial Standards issued by ICSI (SS-1 for board meetings, SS-2 for general meetings) are mandatory for every company except a one-director OPC.
Secretarial audit (Form MR-3) is a separate, higher threshold from the small-company definition above: the two shouldn't be conflated. It applies to every listed company, and to any public or private company with paid-up capital of ₹50 crore or more, or turnover of ₹250 crore or more, as well as any company with outstanding loans or borrowings from banks or public financial institutions of ₹100 crore or more. A company can comfortably qualify as "small" under the December 2025 thresholds while still sitting well below the secretarial-audit trigger, or vice versa: they're independent tests, not tiers of the same scale.
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This page is general information, not professional advice. Indian corporate law positions and MCA rules change frequently, and how any of this applies depends on your company's specific facts. Take professional advice before acting on anything on this page. We are happy to be that adviser, but we do not act on a web page, ours or anyone else's, without one.