Company secretaries, chartered accountants, and other compliance professionals are grappling with persistent technical glitches on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ (MCA) Version 3 portal, which have significantly slowed down the process of annual filings.
Despite the MCA extending the filing deadline to December 31, 2025, professionals say the move offers only temporary relief and fails to resolve the core technical issues that have plagued the system since its launch.
“The extension helps for now, but what about the countless hours already wasted trying to file forms? Filing is only a part of compliance. The government must take responsibility for the inefficiencies of the system,” said Vanita Agarwal, a practicing company secretary.
According to professionals, the latest version of the MCA portal has been riddled with operational challenges. Users have reported inability to change passwords, update profiles, save data in e-forms, and limitations on attachment sizes, among other issues. Some filings also require prior approvals that further delay the process.
In its notification dated October 17, the MCA acknowledged these challenges, stating that companies would be given additional time “to get familiarised with the filing process” following the deployment of new e-forms. The ministry said it had received several requests from stakeholders and therefore allowed companies to complete their annual filings for FY25 without additional fees until the end of December.
However, professionals argue that the core problems remain unresolved. “An extension can only provide immediate relief,” said Ankit Singhi, Head of Corporate Affairs and Compliance at Corporate Professionals. “If a task that should take 15 minutes ends up taking an hour because of technical snags, it raises serious concerns about system efficiency.”
The Version 3 portal, which went live on January 14, 2025, introduced 38 new e-forms aimed at streamlining compliance. Unlike Version 2, where forms were filled offline and uploaded, Version 3 allows users to fill forms directly online. It was designed to improve user experience with features like saving drafts, resuming incomplete filings, and accessing a “My Application” dashboard to track submission status.
However, professionals say many of these features are not functioning as intended. Delays, frequent error messages, and inconsistent form validations have frustrated users and disrupted workflow, particularly during peak compliance months.
Industry bodies have urged the government to establish a dedicated technical task force to address these recurring issues, ensure accountability, and restore user confidence in the digital compliance infrastructure.
As one compliance expert summed up, “The intent behind Version 3 was modernization, but without reliable functionality, it risks becoming a compliance bottleneck rather than a convenience.”
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