AOC-4 & MGT-7 Annual Filing 2026: DSC Rules, Deadlines & Late Fees

AOC-4 is due within 30 days of your company's AGM, and MGT-7 or MGT-7A within 60 days. For most companies with a March 31, 2026 year-end and a September 30 AGM, that's roughly October 30 and November 29, 2026. Both forms need a valid Class 3 DSC to sign, and missing either deadline costs ₹100 per day per form, with no cap.

What Are AOC-4 and MGT-7?

AOC-4 and MGT-7 are the two annual filings every registered company must submit to the Registrar of Companies (ROC) after its AGM. AOC-4 files the company's audited financial statements — balance sheet, profit & loss account, and board's report — for the year. MGT-7 (or its abridged version, MGT-7A) files the company's annual return, covering shareholding pattern, indebtedness, directors and key managerial personnel, and other corporate governance details. Both are filed electronically on the MCA21 portal and are separate from, but usually follow soon after, the AGM itself.

Due Dates for FY 2025-26

AOC-4 is due within 30 days of the AGM, and MGT-7/MGT-7A within 60 days — both counted from the actual AGM date, not the financial year-end. For a financial year ending March 31, 2026, companies (other than those holding their first AGM) must generally hold the AGM within six months of year-end, i.e. by September 30, 2026. Working from a September 30 AGM:

• AOC-4: due within 30 days of the AGM — around October 30, 2026
• MGT-7 / MGT-7A: due within 60 days of the AGM — around November 29, 2026

A company that held its AGM on a different date should count 30 and 60 days from its own AGM date, not from these examples. One Person Companies don't hold an AGM at all, so their MGT-7A deadline is calculated from the date the AGM would have been due.

It's also worth filing AOC-4 before MGT-7, since MGT-7 often needs figures that match what was already submitted in the financial statements — filing the annual return first can cause validation mismatches later.

MGT-7 vs MGT-7A: Which One Do You File?

MGT-7A is the shorter form for One Person Companies and small companies; every other company files the full MGT-7. "Small company" here is a specific legal category, not a general description of business size.

DSC & Signing Requirements

Neither form can be submitted on the MCA21 portal without a valid Class 3 DSC attached to it. Specifically:

• AOC-4 is signed with the DSC of a director, and, where applicable, certified by a practicing CA/CS/CMA.
• MGT-7A needs only the DSC of a director — no Company Secretary signature is required.
• MGT-7 needs the DSC of both a director and the Company Secretary, and, above the paid-up capital/turnover thresholds noted above, certification by a practicing Company Secretary on Form MGT-8.

The DSC used must be currently valid and registered against the correct role on the MCA portal — a director's DSC that's expired, or a Company Secretary's DSC that hasn't been updated after a recent appointment, is one of the most common causes of last-minute filing failures.

Late Filing Penalties

Filing AOC-4 or MGT-7 late costs ₹100 per day per form, with no upper limit, under Section 403 of the Companies Act. This additional fee starts accruing the day after the due date and keeps adding up until the form is actually filed — there's no cap on the total, unlike the flat late fees seen on some other government portals.

Separately, continued non-filing of the annual return can attract penalties under Section 92(5) of the Companies Act on the company and its officers in default, on top of the per-day additional fee. In practice, the ₹100/day fee is what most companies end up paying, since very few let an annual return go completely unfiled.

Step-by-Step: Filing AOC-4 and MGT-7 With Your DSC

1. Check every signing DSC's validity first — the director's, and the Company Secretary's if MGT-7 applies. A certificate must be valid on the date you actually submit, not just when you start.
2. Renew or issue any expired DSC well before the deadline — DSCKart issues and renews Class 3 DSCs online with WhatsApp document submission and video KYC.
3. File AOC-4 first, attaching the audited financial statements and board's report, signed with the director's DSC.
4. Prepare MGT-7 or MGT-7A once AOC-4 is processed, so the figures line up with what's already on record.
5. Attach the required DSCs using the MCA's signer utility (emSigner or equivalent), entering the token PIN for each signatory.
6. Submit and save the acknowledgement — the Service Request Number (SRN) generated is your proof of timely filing.

Common Mistakes That Delay Filing

• Filing MGT-7 before AOC-4 is fully processed — mismatched financial figures between the two forms is a frequent cause of rejection.
• An expired or soon-to-expire DSC discovered only at the point of signing, with no time left to renew before the deadline.
• A newly appointed Company Secretary's DSC not yet updated against the company on the MCA master data, blocking MGT-7 signature.
• Choosing the wrong form — filing MGT-7A when the company has since crossed the small-company thresholds, or vice versa.
• emSigner or token driver issues discovered on filing day, with no buffer left before the ₹100/day fee starts.

Frequently Asked Questions