ROC Fines Company and Director Over Filing Error Under Companies Act

Mahaprabhu Himghar Private Limited and its officer in default have been penalised by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) for filing wrong financial information on the MCA portal for the financial year 2023-24.

The order said the company had filed its financial statement form AOC-4 on October 1, 2024. However, the form had an error in the financial year details. The company wrongly quoted 01.04.2023 to 01.04.2024 instead of 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2024.

Later, the company itself informed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) about the mistake by filing Form GNL-1 and requested that the earlier filing be marked as defective. The company said the mistake was made inadvertently and sought leniency from the authorities.

The ROC noted that, as per Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, the authorised signatory and professional certifying an e-form are responsible for ensuring the correctness of all information and attachments. Since the MCA portal is a public registry relied upon by regulators, shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders, filing of incorrect information amounts to a violation of the law.

The adjudicating officer further said that though the company subsequently sought correction of the mistake, the violation had already taken place when the incorrect form was filed. Therefore, liability under Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013 still applied.

As a result, the ROC imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 each on the company and the responsible signatory for contravention of Rule 8(3) read with Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Apart from this, the ROC directed the company and its officer in default to correct the defect on the MCA portal by filing the proper form and completing all required procedures within the prescribed time.