Over 21,800 Companies Struck Off MCA Register in FY 2026-27; 80% Surge After Compliance Relief Scheme:

According to the sources, the names of over 21,800 companies have been removed from the register of the government for the period between April 2026 and October 2027 (Financial Year 2026-27). This number is almost 80% higher in comparison to the last year, i.e., the Financial Year 2025-26, as per the data available on the official MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) portal.

The reason behind the formal existence of such a large number of companies is the heavy reliefs provided by the government schemes on pending compliance fees and closure charges.

Even the seven-month figure this financial year is higher than the total number of companies removed from the MCA's register in the past three full financial years, i.e., 16,464 in FY24, 15,837 in FY25 and about 16,850 in FY26.

This sudden increase in the number of companies removed from the government's register strongly coincides with the Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme (CCFS) of MCA, which was operated from the period between April 15 and September 15.

The aforesaid scheme had provided companies the ability to clear all their pending filings at a concessional fee of only 10% of the accumulated additional fees. It also reduced the fee for applying for company closure to 25% of the regular amount, making it cheaper for businesses to officially shut down.

By July 13, around 92,859 companies had taken advantage of the scheme, while 11,829 companies had applied to have their names removed from the register, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) informed the Lok Sabha earlier this year.

The MCA did not respond to queries sent by the time of publication. Rishi Agrawal, CEO and co-founder of TeamLease RegTech, said the reduced fees encouraged companies that had been inactive for several years to officially close their businesses.

He explained that applications filed during the initial months of the scheme appeared in the August and September figures because a company is counted as closed only after the Registrar publishes a notice and gives 30 days for objections.

As a result, the number of companies struck off remained around 1,700 per month in April and May but increased to 3,797 in August and 4,933 in September. Even after the scheme ended, 4,351 companies were removed from the register in October, according to MCA data.

Companies planning to close voluntarily must first complete all pending financial statement filings and annual returns up to the end of the financial year in which they stopped operating.

Agrawal said that companies have to pay an additional fee of Rs 100 per day for each delayed form, with no maximum limit.

As a result, companies that ignored their compliance requirements for several years faced huge penalties. Many founders therefore allowed their companies to remain inactive instead of completing the closure process.

Jigar Shah, a practising company secretary, said that the number of companies approaching him for closure had increased significantly this year. Most of these companies were small private businesses and startups.

He added that maintaining a company involves expenses beyond filing fees. Many businesses had also failed to complete annual filings, appoint auditors and meet other legal requirements for several years.

More than 6.6 lakh companies, representing over one-third of the companies required to file, failed to submit their financial statements for FY 2024-25. This figure is higher than the 22.9% recorded in FY 2020-21, the Ministry informed the Lok Sabha.