Compliance
A missed deadline on the MGT‑7 can cost a company ₹10,000 plus ₹100 per day, up to ₹2,00,000, and the same daily charge for each officer, capped at ₹50,000 each, so timely compliance saves money and avoids personal liability.
Check your DPDP readiness — free More on the blogThe first task is to appoint a small compliance team, usually the company secretary and the finance manager, to own the annual return. The secretary gathers statutory information, while the finance manager prepares the financial year‑end figures that feed into the return. Both report to the managing director, who signs off the final MGT‑7 before it is filed.
Gather all details required by Section 92: the registered office address, shareholding pattern, list of directors and their shareholdings, details of meetings held during the year, remuneration paid to officers and any penalties imposed. This information is normally stored in the statutory registers, board minutes and payroll records, and must be verified for accuracy before it is entered into the MGT‑7 template.
Using the official MGT‑7 template, the company secretary inputs the collected data, ensuring each field matches the format prescribed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The form must reflect the state of the company at the close of the financial year, not the date of filing. Once completed, the draft is circulated to the finance manager and managing director for review and sign‑off.
The draft MGT‑7 is presented at a board meeting for formal approval. The board passes a resolution authorising the filing and designating the company secretary as the signatory. Minutes of this meeting must be recorded, as they serve as evidence that the filing was approved by the highest authority in the company.
Within sixty days of the annual general meeting, or of the date the meeting should have been held, the authorised signatory uploads the signed MGT‑7 on the MCA portal. The system generates an acknowledgement receipt with a filing number. Keep this receipt and a printed copy of the filed return in the statutory records for future inspection.
The company must retain the original MGT‑7, the board resolution, the statutory registers and the filing receipt for at least eight years. If the Registrar or any regulator requests the documents, they must be produced promptly. Failure to produce them can trigger the same penalties as a late filing, because the return is deemed not filed.
Set calendar reminders for the AGM date and the subsequent sixty‑day filing window. If the deadline is missed, the company and each defaulting officer incur a ₹10,000 fine plus ₹100 per day, capped at ₹2,00,000 for the company and ₹50,000 per officer. Early payment of the penalty stops further daily accrual, but the base fine remains payable.
After filing, conduct a brief post‑mortem to identify any bottlenecks, such as delayed data collection or unclear responsibility. Update internal SOPs, assign backup personnel, and adjust the calendar alerts. Continuous improvement reduces the risk of repeat penalties and ensures the annual return is filed smoothly each year.
The MGT‑7 must be filed within sixty days of the annual general meeting. If the meeting was not held, the sixty‑day period starts from the date the meeting should have taken place, as prescribed by Section 92 of the Companies Act.
A late filing attracts a penalty of ₹10,000 on the company and on each officer responsible, plus ₹100 for each day the delay continues. The daily charge stops when it reaches ₹2,00,000 for the company and ₹50,000 for each officer.
Every officer who is named in the annual return and is in default shares the personal penalty. Typically this includes the company secretary, finance manager and any director who signed the return, unless they can prove they were not responsible for the delay.
No. The MGT‑7 is the annual return that records statutory information about the company, while the financial statements are filed using form AOC‑4 under a different section. Both must be filed separately, each with its own deadline and penalties for non‑compliance.
Published 10 October 2026. Founder & CEO at VidhiSar. I have watched four companies pay for the same mistake, and it was never the mistake anyone expected. VidhiSar is software, not a law firm: every answer names the section it relies on so you can check it, and anything turning on your specific facts is worth putting to a professional. More about who builds this
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