ROC Late Filing Fees on Annual Return Filing: Things you should know

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had extended the deadline to file the Annual Return Forms (AOC-4 & MGT-7) for the Financial Year 2024-2025 to 31 December 2025. It should not be forgotten in view of this extension, a late fee of Rs.100 per day will be charged in case of filing beyond the original due dates.

These charges are calculated based upon how many days past due the filing happens and begin counting at the original date of due, not the extended due date.

Important dates to remember

• AGM (Annual General Meeting) Due Date: 30th September, 2025
• Statutory Due Date for Filing – AOC-4: 30th October 2025 & MGT-7: 30th November 2025
• Extended Filing Date by MCA: 31st December 2025

Additional Fees

Rate of Additional Fees will be Rs.100/- per day for each form Additional fees will be charged according to the period of delay after the statutory due date

Scenarios

• Reporting of Financial Statements or AOC-4 delay period: 64 days from 30th October 2025 to 31st December 2025 Additional Fees payable on 1st January 2026: Rs.6,400/-
• MGT-7 (Annual Return) delay period: 33 days from 30th November 2025 until 31st December 2025 Extra Charges payable on 1st January 2026: Rs.3,300/-  

There is a misconception that if ROC Annual Return is submitted late i.e. on or after 01st January 2026, the penalty applicable shall be Rs. 100/-

for example, if submitted on 05th January, then Late Fees shall be Rs. 500/- for AOC-4 & Rs. 500/- for MGT-7. But what a careful analysis, as discussed in the above point, would make clear is that Late Fees will start from the statutory dates of filing, namely the 30th of October, 2025 for AOC-4 and 30th of November, 2025 for MGT-7, in case of non-compliance with the deadline, whereby the Companies Act will

Conclusion: if you are a private limited company and filing of forms AOC-4 and MGT-7 is applicable, then you must file it on or before 31st December 2025