BREAKING: CS cannot Certify more than 75/125 MGT-7 Annual Returns From FY 24-25 Onwards

The Institute’s Council has always been at the forefront of establishing and monitoring professional, service delivery, and ethical conduct standards, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the Company Secretary in Practice and connected Corporates.

In line with this, the Council in its 312th meeting held on 8th-9th October 2024 has introduced a ceiling on the signing of E-form MGT-7 by a Company Secretary in Practice.

The prescribed ceiling is placed as under:

• A Company Secretary in Practice is permitted to sign an Annual Return pursuant to Section 92(1) of the Companies Act, 2013, for no more than 75 companies for each of the financial year under consideration;
• A Peer Reviewed Company Secretary in Practice is authorized to sign annual returns for up to 125 companies for each financial year under consideration under Section 92(1) of the Companies Act, 2013.

The same will apply from the financial year beginning April 1, 2025.

Furthermore, as it is mandatory to generate UDIN for signing e-form MGT-7 in accordance with the ICSI Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) Guidelines, 2019, the necessary changes will be made in the UDIN Portal for efficient implementation.

It has been noted that in many circumstances, UDINs are generated with wrong details and under the incorrect Document Type by selecting ‘Others’ and manually entering the nature of the documents rather than picking the correct Document Type from the pre-filled drop-down. Such improper UDIN creation impedes the Institute’s goal of implementing the Guidelines and has substantial consequences for violation.

As a result, it is accordingly urged that Company Secretaries in Practice strictly adhere to the Guidelines as mandated by the Council to avoid any violation of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.