Here are the ROC annual filing due dates for FY 2025-26 in one line: ADT-1 by 15 October 2026, AOC-4 by 29 October 2026, and MGT-7 by 29 November 2026. These dates flow from one anchor point — your Annual General Meeting, which must be held by 30 September 2026 for a March-ending financial year.

I have filed these forms for over ten years, and every single October I watch the same thing happen. Directors treat ROC filing as paperwork. It isn't. Miss it, and you bleed money at Rs.100 per day per form, with no upper cap, while a three-year default quietly disqualifies every director for five years. That is the reality. Let me walk you through each date so you file on time.

What are the ROC annual filing due dates for 2026?

For a company whose financial year ended 31 March 2026, the ROC annual filing due dates are: hold your AGM by 30 September 2026, file ADT-1 by 15 October 2026, file AOC-4 by 29 October 2026, and file MGT-7 by 29 November 2026. Everything chains off the AGM date. Delay the AGM, and you compress — never extend — the filing deadlines.

The sequencing matters. Section 139 of the Companies Act, 2013 says a company appoints its auditor in its AGM. ADT-1 is the intimation of that appointment, so it comes first, within 15 days of the AGM. Then the financial statements get adopted at the AGM and filed on AOC-4 within 30 days. Finally, the annual return on MGT-7 follows within 60 days, because the annual return reports what the meeting actually decided. One domino tips the next.

ADT-1: auditor appointment — due 15 October 2026

ADT-1 is the form where your company tells the Registrar who its auditor is. Section 139(1) requires you to intimate the Registrar within 15 days of the AGM at which the appointment is made. With the AGM on or before 30 September, the ADT-1 due date lands on 15 October 2026.

A few things I see companies get wrong. First, ADT-1 is filed every year the appointment or re-appointment happens — if your auditor is continuing, you still inform the ROC. Second, ADT-1 needs a board resolution for the appointment and, for first appointments, the auditor's consent and eligibility certificate. Third, this is also the form for casual vacancy appointments, which have their own 15-day clock from the board meeting. Keep the calendar clean: one auditor event, one ADT-1.

AOC-4: financial statements — due 29 October 2026

AOC-4 is the form that carries your adopted financial statements — balance sheet, profit and loss, cash flow, notes to accounts, auditor's report, and the board's report — to the Registrar. Section 137 mandates filing within 30 days of the AGM. AGM by 30 September means AOC-4 is due on 29 October 2026.

This is the form that demands the most preparation, so start early. Your financials must be audited, the board report drafted and signed, and the AGM must actually adopt the statements before anything can be filed. A signed set sitting on your desk is not filed. I tell every client: the audit should be finished in August so September is about review and the meeting, not panic.

Special cases: if your AGM is not held at all, Section 137(1) still requires AOC-4 within 30 days of the date the AGM should have been held — skipping the meeting does not buy you time. And if your company is a One Person Company, there is no AGM. For an OPC, AOC-4 must be filed within 180 days of the financial year end, which for FY 2025-26 means 27 September 2026 — earlier than the regular deadline, not later.

MGT-7: annual return — due 29 November 2026

MGT-7 is your company's annual return — the snapshot of who owns, runs, and governs the company: shareholding pattern, directors, key managerial personnel, meetings held, and indebtedness. Section 92 requires filing within 60 days of the AGM. AGM by 30 September puts the MGT-7 due date at 29 November 2026.

The trickiest concept in ROC filing is this: the annual return is dated as of the AGM date. It reports the company's position as it stood on the meeting date. Think of it like a photograph, not a video. AOC-4 shows the year's financial movie; MGT-7 is a single photograph taken on AGM day. That is why MGT-7 is last in the queue — you cannot take the photograph until the meeting happens. And that is also why holding the AGM late is so destructive: the photograph is taken late, but the Rs.100-a-day meter for every form has been running regardless.

One practical note: listed companies and companies above the prescribed thresholds must file MGT-7 in the newer format with additional disclosures. Check your applicability before you start filling — the form version you pick determines the certification requirements.

What happens if you miss the ROC annual filing due dates?

Two consequences, and both are real.

First, the money. Section 403 of the Companies Act imposes an additional fee of Rs.100 per day of delay, per form, with no maximum cap. A company that misses all three forms by six months faces roughly Rs.18,000 per form — over Rs.50,000 across the three. Let it run a year and you are past Rs.1,00,000. I have seen directors go pale when the MCA portal shows the running total. The fee does not negotiate.

Second, the disqualification. Section 164(2) says that if a company fails to file its financial statements or annual returns for three consecutive financial years, every director of that company is disqualified from being appointed or reappointed as a director of any company for five years. Read that again. Not the company's default — the director's disqualification, across every company they serve. Three years of neglect ends careers. I have watched it happen to good people who simply delegated compliance and never checked.

One Person Companies and the 180-day rule

An OPC does not hold an AGM — there is nobody to meet. Section 137(1) therefore gives an OPC a different deadline: file AOC-4 within 180 days of the close of the financial year. For FY 2025-26, that is 27 September 2026. MGT-7 still applies to OPCs with its own timeline from the financial year end. If you run an OPC, your deadlines arrive earlier than everyone else's. Mark them first.

Your filing calendar for FY 2025-26

Here is the clean version to pin on your wall. Audit completed: August 2026. Board meeting to approve financials and fix the AGM date: early September 2026. AGM: on or before 30 September 2026. ADT-1: 15 October 2026. AOC-4: 29 October 2026. MGT-7: 29 November 2026. OPC AOC-4: 27 September 2026. Work backwards from these dates and you will never pay a late fee.

If this calendar feels like a lot to manage alongside running your business, that is exactly what ROC annual filing services exist for — a professional tracks the dates, prepares the forms, and files before the meter starts. The individual forms each have their own requirements: AOC-4 filing for your financial statements, MGT-7 filing for your annual return, and ADT-1 filing for your auditor appointment.

File on time. The fees are automatic, the disqualification is statutory, and neither cares that you were busy. September is meeting season — start your audit in August, hold the AGM by the 30th, and October becomes paperwork instead of a penalty notice.