The Centre is consulting stakeholders on a comprehensive revamp of the filing architecture under the Companies Act, 2013, with five key changes being considered to transform how companies file information with the government. According to the latest consultation document published by the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) in April, the proposed reforms will significantly reduce company incorporations from the current 10-15 days to potentially within hours and simplify norms for voluntary closures. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is drawing up a reform blueprint that includes use of artificial intelligence and greater automation to speed up scrutiny and filings, aiming to bring more ease to doing business in India to help the country achieve its developed economy goal by 2047.
The MCA is considering merging overlapping forms that have similar statutory purposes and consolidating forms with overlapping data fields. The consultation document specifically asks whether reducing the total number of forms, merging forms with similar data, adopting a modular filing model and moving to a 'file once, use everywhere' system should be priorities. The ministry is also expanding Straight Through Processing (STP)-based automatic approval beyond the limited categories where it currently operates. About 3.84 crore filings were made through MCA21 between 2021 and 2025, with 3.33 crore approved through STP and 40.8 lakh approved by Registrars of Companies and Regional Directors. The proposed automatic approvals will cover regular company filings, appointing or removing directors, reporting changes in loans or charges, changing share capital, and shifting registered offices.
The MCA is proposing pre-filled and 'delta-based' filings where information already available with the registry would be pre-populated, with companies entering only changes since the previous filing. The consultation lists several categories for pre-filling including company master data, director and key managerial personnel details, shareholding patterns, auditor information, charge status, previous-year financial parameters and CSR data. The proposed framework also includes API-based data-sharing between MCA and other regulatory systems to reduce duplicate reporting. Systems being considered for integration include the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
The proposed reforms will move away from identical filing requirements for all companies and consider compliance differentiation based on factors such as company listing status, turnover, paid-up capital, dormancy, and legal category. One option under consideration is a simplified annual return for MSMEs below a specified turnover threshold, while another proposes reduced form requirements for companies below a specified paid-up capital threshold. For small companies, the consultation asks whether a single integrated annual return could replace AOC-4 and MGT-7. The framework also considers separate filing approaches for Section 8 companies, producer companies and One Person Companies, with the consultation document stating that final recommendations will be compiled by IICA and submitted to the MCA based on stakeholder feedback, legal feasibility and regulatory considerations.
