Annual Compliance Calendar explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Your compliance year isn't a list of deadlines. It's a chain, and the first link controls everything after it.
Your AGM date decides your AOC-4 date (30 days later). Your AGM date also decides your MGT-7A date (60 days later). Hold the AGM late and both filings are automatically late — and a late filing kills every exemption your company has.
So the AGM isn't just another item. It's the pivot.
The dates you can't move 30 June — DPT-3 (and DIR-3 KYC, but only once every three years — see below) · 30 September — AGM · AGM + 30 days — AOC-4 · AGM + 60 days — MGT-7A
How the chain works
``` 31 March Financial year ends ↓ Accounts prepared → audited → board approves → AGM notice (21 days) ↓ 30 September AGM ← the pivot ↓ +30 days → AOC-4 +60 days → MGT-7A ```
Note: 30 September isn't a statutory date. The law says the AGM must be within six months of your year end. For a 31 March year end, that lands on 30 September.
Hold your AGM on 15 August instead and your AOC-4 is due 14 September, your MGT-7A on 14 October. Everything moves with it.
Your first AGM is different — you get nine months from the end of your first financial year. Incorporated in November 2026? Your first financial year ends 31 March 2027, and your first AGM is due by 31 December 2027.
Need more time? The ROC can extend your AGM by up to three months — but only for special reasons, only if you apply in Form GNL-1 before the due date, and never for the first AGM.
Month by month
April
MSME-1 by the 30th — if you owe any micro or small supplier money that's been outstanding beyond 45 days, for the October–March half.
This one surprises people. It's triggered by the MSMED Act's 45-day payment rule and reported to the MCA. Applies even to a company with no turnover, if it has such dues.
At your first board meeting of the year: collect MBP-1 (every director's disclosure of their interests) and DIR-8 (declaration nobody is disqualified). These aren't filings — they're documents that live in your records and feed your related-party register.
June
DPT-3 by the 30th.
This is the most-skipped filing in India, and it's because of the name. Companies read "return of deposits", think "we've never taken a deposit", and don't file.
But DPT-3 also reports money you received that isn't a deposit:
- Loans from directors
- Loans from other companies
- Share application money pending allotment
- Advances from customers
- Bank borrowings
Almost every operating company has something in that list as at 31 March.
One document to check: for a director's loan to be excluded from "deposit", you need a written declaration from that director saying the money isn't itself borrowed. No declaration on file, and the loan is a deposit — which drags in Section 73 and a minimum ₹1 crore penalty exposure. Get the declaration signed when the money comes in, not in June. Full DPT-3 guide →
DIR-3 KYC by the 30th — but only once every three years.
This one changed. Until FY 2024-25, every DIN holder filed director KYC every September. G.S.R. 943(E) dated 31 December 2025 rewrote Rule 12A with effect from 31 March 2026: the filing is now due once every three consecutive financial years, by 30 June, on a single unified Form DIR-3 KYC Web that replaces the old eForm and web service.
If your directors were compliant at the changeover, the next filing is due 30 June 2028.
Two things not to get wrong:
- A change in mobile, email or address still needs updating within 30 days, on the same form — and it doesn't reset the three-year clock.
- Missing it still deactivates the DIN, and reactivation still costs ₹5,000. The real damage isn't the fee; it's discovering in late October, with an AOC-4 due, that your only signing director has a dead DIN.
Diarise 30 June 2028 now. A deadline that comes round once every three years is one nobody remembers. Full DIR-3 KYC guide →
July–August
Audit season. Then:
- Board meeting to approve the financial statements and the Board's Report
- Prepare AOC-2 (related-party contracts) as an annexure — attach a Nil AOC-2 if there were none, it saves a query later
- Send the AGM notice — 21 clear days, or shorter with 95% member consent
If you're a small company, you can use the abridged Board's Report — a much shorter list of disclosures. Use it.
September
AGM by the 30th.
Ordinary business: adopt the accounts, declare a dividend if any, appoint the auditor. Note that a private company's directors don't retire by rotation — that's a public company rule — so that agenda item doesn't arise.
Nothing else in September — and DIR-3 KYC has moved. If you're used to filing director KYC this month, that changed. See June below.
October
AOC-4 within 30 days of the AGM.
Your audited accounts, the auditor's report, the Board's Report and AOC-2, filed with the ROC. This is what makes your company's financials publicly searchable.
MSME-1 by the 31st for the April–September half.
November
MGT-7A within 60 days of the AGM.
The annual return — who owns the company, who runs it, what meetings you held, what you owe, as at 31 March. Small companies and OPCs use the abridged MGT-7A; everyone else uses MGT-7.
Signed by your company secretary, or if you don't have one, by a director.
Also put it on your website if you have one, and reference the link in your Board's Report. That's a requirement people routinely miss.
December to March
Remaining board meetings — four a year with no more than 120 days between any two, or two a year if you're a small company.
And one more thing: review your audited numbers against every threshold. Ten minutes at the December board meeting, checking whether you've crossed into CSR, demat, company secretary, internal audit or auditor rotation territory. This one habit eliminates the whole "we didn't know it applied to us" category.
Every annual filing, in one table
| Form | What | Due (31 March FY end) |
|---|---|---|
| AOC-4 | Financial statements | 30 days from AGM |
| MGT-7A | Annual return (small co / OPC) | 60 days from AGM |
| MGT-7 | Annual return (others) | 60 days from AGM |
| DIR-3 KYC Web | Director KYC — once every 3 financial years, not annually | 30 June (next: 30 June 2028) |
| DPT-3 | Deposits and director loans | 30 June |
| MSME-1 | Dues to small suppliers | 30 April and 31 October |
| ADT-1 | Auditor appointment | 15 days from appointment |
| CSR-2 | CSR report (if applicable) | With AOC-4 |
What a missed date really costs
The late fee. ₹100 per day on AOC-4 and MGT-7A — with no cap. File two years late and that's ₹73,000 per form. Other forms use a multiple-of-normal-fee scale, and DIR-3 KYC is a flat ₹5,000.
The penalty. Separate from the fee, imposed by the ROC after a show-cause notice.
Your exemptions. Gone for the whole period you were in default.
Your directors. This is the one that matters. Miss your financial statements or annual returns for three continuous financial years, and every director of that company is disqualified for five years — in every company they hold office in. It's automatic. No order, no notice.
One genuinely useful relief
If you get a show-cause notice for a late AOC-4 or MGT-7A, and you file the pending return before the notice or within 30 days of it, no penalty is imposed and the proceedings close.
So if that notice arrives: file immediately, then tell the officer you've filed. Most people don't know this exists.
Key takeaways
- Your AGM date drives everything. Hold it early and every deadline moves earlier.
- DPT-3 applies even if you've never taken a "deposit" — director loans count.
- Get the director's-loan declaration signed when the money arrives, not in June.
- DIR-3 KYC is no longer annual — once every three financial years, by 30 June. Next due 30 June 2028. Miss it and the DIN dies and your filings stall.
- ₹100/day on AOC-4 and MGT-7A is uncapped.
- Three years of missed annual filings disqualifies every director for five years.
Read next
- Compliance Checklist for a Private Limited Company
- Form AOC-4 Explained
- Form MGT-7A Explained
- DIR-3 KYC Guide
- DPT-3 Guide
- All ROC Due Dates
Disclaimer: Dates stated for a 31 March financial year end as on 4 September 2026. MCA extends annual filing deadlines by circular fairly regularly — always check mca.gov.in before filing.