CCFS 2026 Last Date Is 31 August: File Pending ROC Annual Filing

If your company has ROC filings sitting unfiled, the calendar is now the biggest risk you carry. The CCFS 2026 last date is 31 August 2026, and after that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has said the concession window closes and enforcement resumes. That leaves roughly three weeks to finish work that, for most defaulting companies, was never a single-day job to begin with.

What CCFS-2026 actually offers

The Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 was introduced through MCA General Circular No. 01/2026 dated 24 February 2026. It is a one-time facilitation window that lets defaulting companies complete pending statutory filings under the Companies Act, 2013 while paying a small fraction of the additional fees that would otherwise apply.

Three routes are available under the scheme, and they map to three very different business situations:

Route	Who it suits	Fee position under CCFS-2026
Catch up on pending filings	Active companies with a backlog of annual filings	Normal fees plus only 10% of the applicable additional fees
Declare dormancy (MSC-1)	Companies with no operations that intend to revive later	50% of normal fees
Strike off (STK-2)	Companies that will not be revived at all	25% of normal fees

Compared with the earlier CFSS 2020, the dormancy and closure routes are the genuinely new part. Earlier schemes largely addressed the backlog; CCFS-2026 also gives an inactive company a low-cost exit instead of leaving it to accumulate defaults year after year.

Why the deadline moved to 31 August

The scheme opened on 15 April 2026 and was originally scheduled to close on 15 July 2026. Through General Circular No. 03/2026 dated 8 July 2026, the MCA extended its validity to 31 August 2026, citing capacity restoration work at the MCA21 data centre following a fire incident on 5 June 2026.

It is worth reading that extension for what it is. The window did not widen because compliance expectations softened — it widened because the filing infrastructure needed time to recover. The relief on offer is unchanged, and no further extension has been announced.

Which filings are typically covered

The scheme is aimed at the routine annual filings that companies most often fall behind on, including:

• AOC-4 — filing of financial statements
• MGT-7 / MGT-7A — annual return for companies and OPC/small companies
• ADT-1 — intimation of auditor appointment
• Other eligible event-based and annual forms as specified in the scheme circular

There is no separate application form to opt in. You file the pending forms on the MCA portal and the concessional fee treatment applies to eligible filings. Before you start, confirm the exact list of covered forms and eligibility conditions against the scheme circular, since a form outside the notified list will attract full additional fees. If you are unsure where your backlog stands, a structured ROC compliance recovery review will tell you which years and which forms are actually open against your CIN.

What it costs to file with ComplyV

For a small company, we handle the pending ROC annual filing under CCFS-2026 at a professional fee of ₹1,999 only. That figure is exclusive of government fees — the normal MCA filing fee and the concessional additional fee are paid to the government directly and depend on your authorised capital and how many years are open.

The ₹1,999 rate is meant for small companies as defined under the Companies Act, 2013. Larger companies, LLPs, and cases needing several years of back-audit are quoted separately once we have seen the filing history. Audit fees, DSC renewal, and DIN KYC charges, where applicable, are also outside this price.

What happens after 31 August 2026

Missing the date does not simply mean losing a discount. Once the window shuts, the position reverts to the ordinary regime under the Companies Act, 2013:

• Additional fees return to the standard ₹100 per day, per form, with no ceiling — a two-year-old default becomes an expensive one
• The Registrar of Companies can initiate adjudication and penalty proceedings against the company and its officers in default
• Strike-off action can be commenced against companies that appear non-operational on the register
• Directors of a company that fails to file financial statements or annual returns for three continuous financial years face disqualification under Section 164(2), which then blocks them across other companies too

The disqualification consequence is the one founders tend to underestimate. It attaches to the individual, not just the defaulting entity, and it surfaces at the worst possible moment — during funding due diligence, a bank facility, or a tender evaluation, where MCA filing history is public and easy to pull.

Three weeks is less time than it looks

Filing under CCFS-2026 is rarely a matter of uploading a form. For a company two or three years behind, the preparatory chain usually runs like this:

1. Reconstruct the books for each pending financial year
2. Get the financial statements audited for those years
3. Hold board meetings and pass the resolutions approving accounts, and hold the pending AGMs with proper documentation, including the Board’s Report and its AOC-2 annexure on related party transactions
4. Check that every signatory’s DSC is valid and DIN KYC is current — an expired DSC stops the filing dead
5. File the forms year by year, in sequence, and retain each SRN acknowledgement and challan as proof

Each of those steps has its own lead time, and steps two and four are the ones that most often derail a late start. Companies that leave it to the last week also lose the buffer needed to correct a rejected or resubmitted form. If your annual compliance for a private limited company is behind, or your LLP annual compliance has slipped, the useful question is not whether you can file by 31 August but whether the audit and board documentation can realistically be ready before it.

How to use the remaining window

1. Pull your filing history. Check the MCA master data against your CIN and list every year and form that is open.
2. Decide the route. Active and continuing means catch up. Paused with intent to revive means dormancy. Finished means closure — our company winding up and closure team can confirm whether STK-2 is available to you.
3. Fix the blockers first. Renew DSCs, complete DIN KYC, and get the auditor engaged for the pending years before touching the portal.
4. File in sequence and save the evidence. Download every SRN acknowledgement and challan receipt — that is your record of compliance for those defaults.
5. Set up a calendar so it does not recur. Our ROC compliance calendar maps the due dates for the current year.

Frequently asked questions

Is the CCFS 2026 last date likely to be extended again?

No further extension has been announced. The move from 15 July to 31 August was granted for a specific operational reason — data centre restoration after the June 2026 fire — and not as a general relaxation. Planning on another extension is a poor bet when the downside is full additional fees plus enforcement.

What does ComplyV charge to file under the scheme?

Our professional fee for a small company is ₹1,999 only, excluding government fees. MCA filing fees and the concessional additional fees are payable separately and vary with authorised capital and the number of pending years. Non-small companies and LLPs are quoted after a review of the filing history.

Do I need to file a separate application to claim the benefit?

No. There is no separate opt-in form. You file the pending forms on the MCA portal within the scheme window and pay the fees as computed for eligible filings.

My company never commenced business. Is closure cheaper than catching up?

Often, yes. For a company with no operations and no intention to revive, strike-off through STK-2 at 25% of normal fees is usually the lower-cost route compared with auditing and filing several years of nil returns. Eligibility conditions for strike-off still apply, so the position needs to be checked before you commit.

Does the scheme cover GST or income tax defaults?

No. CCFS-2026 relates to filings under the Companies Act, 2013 with the Registrar of Companies. Pending GST returns and income tax filings carry their own late fees and interest and are unaffected by this scheme.

My DSC has expired and the auditor has not signed yet. Can I still make it?

Possibly, but only if you start immediately. DSC renewal and DIN KYC can be completed relatively quickly; the audit for pending years is the longer pole. Get both moving in parallel this week rather than sequentially.

Deciding your move before 31 August

Every company sitting on a backlog has the same three options and one shrinking deadline. Catching up costs the least if the business is running. Dormancy protects a company you intend to bring back. Closure ends the exposure for good. What none of them survives is indecision through the end of the month, because on 1 September the arithmetic changes and the ₹100-per-day clock resumes on every open form.

If you are not sure which route fits, start with a filing status check rather than a guess — it takes far less time than the audit that follows. For a small company, the entire pending ROC annual filing is handled at ₹1,999 only, excluding government fees. Talk to the ComplyV team and we will map your open filings, tell you what the scheme saves you in your specific case, and get the work sequenced against the days that are left.