Quick Take
- The MCA amnesty called CCFS-2026 closes on September 15, 2026. That is tomorrow.
- It charges 10% of the late fee on overdue annual filings. A two-year defaulter can save about Rs 1.75 lakh.
- Strike-off costs 25% of the normal fee. Dormant status costs 50%. Both close the same day.
A one-time amnesty from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs closes on September 15, 2026. It lets any company with late annual filings pay a fraction of the usual penalty.
The scheme is called the Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026, or CCFS-2026. It cuts the additional fee on overdue annual returns to 10%. That is a 90% saving on the penalty.
For a company that has skipped filings for two years, the saving runs to about Rs 1.75 lakh. The window shuts tomorrow.
The scheme was notified through General Circular No. 01/2026, dated February 24, 2026. It became operative on April 15, 2026. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has extended it twice since.
Here is the part that matters for founders carrying old defaults. The clock does not stop on its own.
How much can you actually save?
The saving comes only on the additional fee, not the normal filing fee. A late AOC-4 or MGT-7 has cost Rs 100 per day since July 2018. There is no upper cap under section 403.
CCFS-2026 charges 10% of that built-up additional fee. So the Rs 100 a day effectively drops to Rs 10 a day. The normal filing fee stays the same.
Take a company that missed two years of filings. The table below shows the arithmetic. Treat it as an illustration, not a quote.
| Form | Days late | Additional fee |
|---|---|---|
| AOC-4 FY24 | 685 | Rs 68,500 |
| MGT-7 FY24 | 655 | Rs 65,500 |
| AOC-4 FY25 | 320 | Rs 32,000 |
| MGT-7 FY25 | 290 | Rs 29,000 |
| Total outside the scheme | 1,950 | Rs 1,96,200 |
Outside the scheme, that defaulter owes about Rs 1,96,200 in additional fees. Under CCFS-2026, the additional fee falls to roughly Rs 20,700. The saving is about Rs 1.75 lakh.
The saving is the same at every capital slab. That is because only the additional fee is discounted, and the additional fee does not change with capital.
What are the three different rates?
The scheme has three separate reliefs, not one. Several trade write-ups flatten all three to “10%”. That is wrong, and the difference decides what you pay.
The first relief is for late annual filings. You pay the normal fee plus 10% of the additional fee. This covers forms like AOC-4 and MGT-7.
The second relief is for dormant status. A company can file Form MSC-1 at 50% of the normal fee. This suits an inactive but clean company that wants to pause.
The third relief is for closure. A defunct company can file Form STK-2 for voluntary strike-off at 25% of the normal fee. That is the “easy exit” route.
Note the base. The 10% applies to the additional fee. The 50% and 25% apply to the normal fee. They are not the same discount on the same thing.
Does a past default block you?
Prosecution and listed status do not bar you from the scheme. They affect your immunity, which is a separate question.
For a section 92 or 137 default, you get immunity from penalty proceedings if you file in time. In time means before the adjudicating officer issues a notice, or within 30 days of that notice.
The immunity ends there. It does not apply once the 30 days lapse. It does not apply after an adjudication order imposing a penalty is passed. Saraf and Partners set out this structure in its April 2026 note on the scheme.
The real exclusions are narrow. A company already hit with a final strike-off notice under section 248 is out. So is one that has already applied for strike-off or dormant status.
Two more categories are excluded. Companies dissolved by amalgamation cannot use it. Nor can vanishing companies.
Which forms does it cover?
The form list is far wider than AOC-4, MGT-7 and ADT-1. It reaches defaults that are more than a decade old.
It covers AOC-4 CFS and AOC-4 XBRL. It covers the NBFC Ind-AS variants. It covers FC-3 and FC-4, the forms foreign companies file in India.
The striking part is the legacy list. The scheme also covers Companies Act 1956 forms. That means old forms like 20B, 21A, 23AC, 23ACA, 66 and 23B, plus their XBRL variants.
So a company sitting on a default from the 2010s is not shut out. The reach goes back much further than the current forms suggest.
StartupFeed Insight
Read the extension record, not the marketing. CCFS-2026 has been stretched from July 15 to August 31 to September 15, all through circulars that landed near the wire. GC 04/2026 was issued on August 31, the day the last window was expiring. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has published no uptake data: no filing count, no revenue figure, no statement. A scheme rescued twice in five months, with no numbers to show for it, is not one that is being used well. Founders should treat September 15 as real and file today. But do not be shocked if a GC 05/2026 appears at the last minute. On this scheme’s record, another save would be in character.
— Avinash Mishra, Business Correspondent
What this means for you: If your company has any late annual filing, open the MCA-21 portal today, generate the SRN and pay before September 15, because the 90% penalty cut vanishes the moment the window shuts.
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