MCA modifies forms companies need to file for changing their financial year

MCA modifies forms companies need to file for changing their financial year

The Companies (Incorporation) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2018 (“4^th Amendment Rules”), in December 2018, introduced provisions outlining the manner in which companies can change their financial year. The 4^th Amendment Rules stipulated that companies will need to make an application to the Regional Director requesting for a change in financial year as per the format prescribed in Form RD-1. In the event, that Form RD-1 had any defects, the company would need to rectify the same and resubmit the documents as per the format prescribed in Form RD GNL-5 within 15 days of the Regional Director finding any defect in the form. Another point to note is that Form RD GNL-5 can be submitted a maximum of 2 times.

These forms have been modified through a notification issued by the MCA in the Companies (Incorporation) Seventh Amendment Rules, 2019 (“7^th Amendment Rules”). The changes introduced to the forms are as follows:

Form RD-1 – This Form has been modified whereby companies will now need to indicate the date on which board of directors approved the change.

Form RD GNL-5 – This Form has been modified whereby companies will now need to indicate the name of the person who is filing this form with the Regional Director and has removed the requirement of indicating the stamp duty paid for the documents attached to the Form.

However, both e-forms are yet to be uploaded on the MCA company forms download page for filing purposes.

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The changes brought through the 7^th Amendment Rules will not only impact entities proposing to change their financial years but will also impact entities aiming to change their corporate name of public companies proposing to become private companies. This is because Form RD-1 will need to be filed for each of the events mentioned above.

Disclaimer: This post has been prepared for informational purposes only. The information/or observations contained in this post does not constitute legal advice and should not be acted upon in any specific situation without seeking proper legal advice from a practicing attorney.