Companies can file their financial statements and annual returns for FY23 during the ongoing filing season without waiting for the roll out of the new high security forms, which are part of the revamp of the government’s statutory filing portal MCA21, two people aware of the development said.
The portal is accepting existing version of the forms for financial statements and annual returns as the filing season, which peaks in September-November, is underway, they added.
This comes as a relief for the corporate sector as filing of key documents using old forms are expected to make the process smooth without uncertainty or possible glitches that some new forms can lead to initially. Some professionals had also sought the opportunity to file these documents using existing forms (version two or V2) during the current filing season.
So far, the government has rolled out over 50 V3 forms in the revamped MCA21 portal that will be mandatory for filing by businesses under provisions of the Companies Act. Around 30 more V3 forms will be launched including those for filing annual returns and financial statements once the migration from V2 forms is completed.
The authorities held public stakeholder consultation across cities in July to assist professionals understand the requirements of the revamped portal, and how to use V3 forms that have already been rolled out.
These forms and portal have stabilized now after some initial glitches reported by professionals. Now, the number of filings by companies using the new forms exceeded the count for last year.
Experts welcomed the government’s announcement, allowing the use of the old V2 forms to file financial statements and annual returns.
Filing documents using V2 forms of the MCA portal is comfortable for most stakeholders,”
“Companies have started filing their financial statements and annual returns for FY23; however, this process will pick up pace once the deadline for filing draws closer. There are still some technical glitches that users are facing while using the V3 version. So, users will be happy filing the annual forms using V2. Hopefully, this option continues in October for FY23 forms,”
Vikash Thakur, associate director, entity setup and management, at NexDigm, a business and professional services company, said filings for FY23 with V2 forms is functioning smoothly. “This is a much needed relief to the industry as the ministry of corporate affairs was planning to migrate filing of financial statements and annual returns to MCA V3 this year.”
Companies have a six-month window from the end of a fiscal year to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) to approve their accounts and, one month from the date of the AGM, to file statements on the MCA21 portal. For FY23, this has to be done latest by October-end. For filing annual returns, companies have two months from the date of holding the AGM, that is, by the end of November.
Thakur said the authorities and technical teams held a series of roadshows to resolve issues faced by professionals, but one or two issues still persist. For example, Director KYC OTP generation is not functioning for non-resident directors.
A third person said the government is exploring ways to solve the issue of mobile messages not reaching offshore directors.
An email query to a spokesperson for the corporate affairs ministry late on Tuesday did not elicit any response till press time.
