Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3: Timelines and What Drives Them
How long Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3 takes depends on a handful of things that are largely within your control. The questions below are the ones raised most often in practice; the full scope of the service is on the Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3 page.
What is MGT-14 and when do we need to file it?
MGT-14 is the filing that records certain Board and shareholder resolutions with the Registrar — most commonly special resolutions altering the Memorandum or Articles of Association, and other resolutions the Companies Act specifically requires to be filed (for public companies this includes specified Board resolutions under Section 179(3), from which private companies are exempt). It must be filed within 30 days of the resolution being passed. Ordinary Board resolutions for routine matters generally do not require MGT-14 filing — only the specific categories listed under Section 117(3) and related provisions.
In practice: We maintain a standing checklist of which resolution types require MGT-14 so that clients do not have to make that determination themselves each time — a wrong call in either direction (filing when unnecessary, or skipping when required) creates its own cleanup work.
What is the practical difference between a company handling this in-house versus engaging PNPC?
An in-house team without dedicated company-secretarial training typically discovers an event-based obligation only when someone happens to remember it, or when a bank, investor, or auditor asks about it during an unrelated process. PNPC's engagement inverts that sequence: we ask to be told about material corporate actions before they happen, we draft the resolution and the filing together so they are consistent, and we track every trigger against its specific deadline rather than relying on memory. The difference shows up most clearly in fee accumulation — tracking each trigger in advance is what keeps a company from accruing additional MCA fees for event-based defaults, while a company that comes in after a gap may have one or more to clear first.
In practice: We are not precious about who prepares the underlying documents — some clients want us to draft every resolution, others want us to review resolutions their lawyers or company secretary prepare. Either way works, as long as we see it before filing.
Is there a single 'penalty amount' you can quote for a missed event-based filing?
No — and any firm that quotes a single flat number without knowing your specific form and delay period is guessing. Penalties vary by form: ADT-1, DIR-12, CHG-1, CHG-4, PAS-3, MGT-14, and SH-7 each fall under different fee schedules in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, with additional fee typically scaling by the number of days delayed and, for some categories, by the company's authorised share capital slab. For charge-related filings, there is also the separate and more serious consequence of the charge being void against creditors if registration is delayed beyond the condonation window. PNPC calculates the precise, current additional fee applicable to your specific form and delay before quoting any figure.
In practice: We are deliberately cautious about quoting exact penalty figures without seeing the specific form and delay period — the fee rules have several slabs and have been revised over time. Ask us for the current calculation on your specific facts rather than relying on a generic number from an old article.
What is the STP versus non-STP distinction on the MCA portal, and why does it matter for event-based forms?
Some MCA forms are processed on a Straight-Through-Processing (STP) basis — approved automatically on submission if the data passes system checks — while others are routed to an RoC officer for manual examination (non-STP) and can attract a query (Resubmission, or 'RSUB') requiring the company to correct and resubmit within a stipulated window, typically 15 days. Whether a specific form is STP or non-STP, and how strict the RoC's review tends to be, varies by form type and can also depend on the jurisdictional RoC office. A form stuck in RSUB status is not yet 'filed' for compliance purposes until it is finally approved, so the underlying deadline risk continues until resolution.
In practice: We monitor every submitted form on the MCA portal until it shows 'Approved' status — not just until it shows 'Submitted'. The gap between those two statuses is where filings quietly go stale if nobody is watching.
If we're about to raise a funding round, what event-based filings should we prepare for in advance?
A funding round typically triggers several event-based filings in sequence: SH-7 if authorised capital needs to increase to accommodate the new allotment; PAS-3 within 15 days of allotment for a private placement (30 days for other allotments, such as a rights issue); FC-GPR through the Single Master Form on RBI's FIRMS portal, via the AD bank, within 30 days of allotment for any non-resident investor; MGT-14 if the Articles are amended to add investor rights (liquidation preference, anti-dilution, board seats); and DIR-12 if the investor's term sheet includes a right to appoint a director (a board observer is not a director and does not trigger DIR-12). PNPC prepares this sequence in advance of the term sheet closing, so the filings happen in the correct order and within the correct windows once the round actually closes — rather than being figured out under closing-week pressure.
In practice: Treating the closing date as the moment to start thinking about filings is a planning error. By the time term sheet signing happens, we want the SH-7 and AoA amendment groundwork already understood, so that only the final numbers need to be dropped into a pre-planned filing sequence.
What is a casual vacancy in the office of auditor, and how quickly must it be filled?
A casual vacancy arises when an auditor's office falls vacant mid-term — most commonly through resignation, death, or disqualification — other than by the expiry of the auditor's term. Under Section 139(8), the Board must fill a casual vacancy within 30 days, except where it arises from the auditor's resignation, in which case the appointment must also be approved by shareholders in a general meeting convened within 3 months of the Board's recommendation. Until the vacancy is filled and the new auditor's ADT-1 is filed, the company is effectively without a statutory auditor, which can affect the timeline for any pending financial statement work.
In practice: We treat an auditor resignation as an urgent event, not a routine one — the compounding effect of losing 30 days on filling the vacancy plus the subsequent shareholder approval timeline can meaningfully compress the runway to the AGM deadline later in the year.
Is there a grace period for any of these filings, or are the deadlines absolutely fixed?
The statutory deadlines for these forms (for example, 30 days from the resolution for MGT-14 and 30 days from creation of the charge for CHG-1) are fixed by law, but the practical consequence of missing them varies by form. Most forms allow late filing with an escalating additional fee rather than an outright bar — DIR-12, ADT-1, PAS-3, and MGT-14 fall in this category. Charge registration (CHG-1) is the notable exception with a harder outer boundary: Registrar-level condonation is available up to 120 days from creation with escalating additional/ad valorem fee, but beyond that, condonation must be sought from the Central Government under Section 87, and the underlying charge's enforceability against third parties can be affected in the interim. Treat every deadline as effectively fixed in your planning — the 'additional fee' safety net exists for genuine emergencies, not as a routine buffer.
In practice: We explicitly discourage clients from treating the additional-fee window as a normal part of the process. It exists to absorb genuine unforeseen delays, not to substitute for timely filing as a matter of course — and the fee, while calculable, is real money that timely filing avoids entirely.
Where this sits in the wider engagement
Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3 rarely arrives on its own. The statutory basis and the current requirements are set out on the Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3 service page, and the related services are grouped under Corporate Law.
What PNPC does
PNPC Global has practised since 1986 across India and the UAE. On Event-Based MCA Filings — ADT-1, CHG-1, PAS-3 we take the work end to end — reviewing the facts, preparing and filing what is required, and dealing with the authority through to closure.