Annual ROC Filing in Telangana: Deadlines, Forms and What Happens If You Miss Them

Every company registered in Telangana, from a two-founder startup in HITEC City to a family manufacturing business in Medak, has to file its accounts and annual return with the Registrar of Companies each year. The rules come from the Companies Act, 2013 and apply across India, but a few details are local: which ROC office your company answers to, where disputes and restorations are heard, and which state-level filings sit alongside the ROC ones. This guide covers the annual cycle and those Telangana specifics.

Which ROC Handles Companies in Telangana?

Companies with their registered office in Telangana fall under the Registrar of Companies, Hyderabad. It's the office that holds your company's records, processes forms that need review, and issues notices and penalty orders for defaults. Andhra Pradesh companies were moved to a separate ROC in Vijayawada after the state was divided, so the Hyderabad office now deals with Telangana companies.

Jurisdiction follows your registered office

Which ROC you fall under isn't a choice. It's fixed by the registered office address on your incorporation documents. A company registered in Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad or anywhere else in Telangana falls under ROC Hyderabad, wherever its founders live or its business is done. If you move the registered office into or out of the state, the company's records move to the new ROC, and that shift needs its own approval and filings.

You won't usually need to visit

All annual filings are made online on the MCA portal, signed with the directors' digital signatures. Most companies never deal with the ROC office in person. Where the Hyderabad office matters is when something goes wrong: queries on a filing, show-cause notices for defaults, and adjudication orders levying penalties all come from there.

What Has to Be Filed Every Year

The annual cycle is the same for every company in India. For a Private Limited Company it runs like this:

• Statutory audit: the accounts for the year ending 31 March must be audited by the company's Chartered Accountant, even if the company did no business.
• Board meeting: the board approves the audited financial statements and the directors' report, and calls the Annual General Meeting.
• AGM: held within six months of the year end, so by 30 September. A company's first AGM can be held within nine months of the end of its first financial year.
• AOC-4: the financial statements, filed within 30 days of the AGM.
• MGT-7 or MGT-7A: the annual return, filed within 60 days of the AGM. Small companies and One Person Companies use the shorter MGT-7A.
• ADT-1: filed within 15 days of the AGM when the statutory auditor is appointed or reappointed, usually every five years.

One Person Companies don't hold an AGM. They file AOC-4 within 180 days of the financial year end, and MGT-7A within 60 days of the date by which the AGM would otherwise have been due.

Deadlines for the financial year 2025-26

For accounts ending 31 March 2026, a Private Limited Company must hold its AGM by 30 September 2026. If the AGM is held on that last day, AOC-4 is due by 30 October 2026 and MGT-7 or MGT-7A by 29 November 2026. Holding the AGM earlier brings both filing deadlines forward with it.

Other forms that come up during the year

• DIR-3 KYC for each director with a DIN, when it falls due. A missed KYC deactivates the DIN until it's filed with a ₹5,000 fee.
• DPT-3, reporting loans and deposits, by 30 June.
• MSME-1, half-yearly, for companies with dues to MSME suppliers outstanding beyond 45 days.
• Event-based forms whenever directors, the registered office, share capital or auditors change.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadlines

Late filings are one of the most common reasons Telangana companies end up dealing with ROC Hyderabad directly. The consequences build on each other:

• Additional fees: ₹100 per day for each late form, with no upper limit. They accrue automatically on the MCA portal and are paid when the form is finally filed.
• Penalties: separate from the fees, the ROC can levy penalties on the company and on each director in default under Sections 92 and 137 of the Act. In Telangana these adjudication orders are issued by ROC Hyderabad.
• Director disqualification: if a company fails to file its financial statements or annual returns for three continuous years, every director is disqualified for five years from being a director of any company.
• Strike-off: the ROC can remove a company that hasn't been carrying on business and hasn't filed. Its bank account is frozen and it can no longer trade.

Getting a struck-off company restored

A Telangana company that's been struck off can apply to be restored to the register. The application is heard by the Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which covers companies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Restoration means filing all the pending returns with their additional fees as well, so it's considerably more expensive than filing on time.

A company that's stopped operating

If your company has genuinely stopped doing business, don't just stop filing. Either apply for dormant status, which keeps the company alive with a lighter set of filings, or close it through a voluntary strike-off. Both cost far less than years of accumulated late fees and the risk of disqualification.

Telangana Compliance That Isn't Part of the ROC Filing

The ROC deals only with company law. A company operating in Telangana usually has a few state and tax obligations running alongside, each with its own authority and dates:

• Income-tax return: filed with the Income Tax Department using the same audited accounts, but separately from the ROC.
• GST returns: monthly or quarterly, and an annual return where applicable, with the GST department.
• Professional Tax: Telangana levies Professional Tax, so companies need to enrol and, if they have staff, deduct and pay it for employees. This goes to the state's Commercial Taxes Department.
• Shops and Establishments: offices and shops in Telangana register under the state's Shops and Establishments Act, which is separate from company registration.

Because the income-tax return and the ROC filings are built on the same audited accounts, it's easiest to finalise the audit once and use it for both, instead of treating them as separate projects.

How to Stay on Top of It

1. Get the books closed and reconciled by June, so the audit isn't squeezed into September.
2. Check that every director's DSC is valid and their KYC is up to date before the filing season. An expired DSC is the most common last-minute delay.
3. Hold the board meeting and AGM with time to spare, and file AOC-4 and MGT-7 soon after rather than waiting for the last day.
4. Keep the SRN from each filing. It's your proof the form is on the register if a notice ever comes from the ROC.
5. If you've fallen behind, file the pending years in order as soon as you can. The additional fee stops growing once each form is filed.

Getting Help With Your Annual ROC Filing

Think Filing handles the full annual cycle for companies in Telangana: the audit coordination, board and AGM paperwork, AOC-4, MGT-7 or MGT-7A, ADT-1, and director KYC, all filed and signed by a practising professional. If your company has missed past years, we can file the backlog and advise on restoration if it's already been struck off.