Digital signature, DIN, efiling, Annual Filing in det

 

Digital signature, DIN, e-filing, Annual Filing etc. in detail.

 Obtain Digital Signature Certificate

 

What is a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)?

The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides for use of Digital Signatures on the documents submitted in electronic form in order to ensure the security and authenticity of the documents filed electronically. This is the only secure and authentic way that a document can be submitted electronically. As such, all filings done by the companies under MCA21 e-Governance programme are required to be filed with the use of Digital Signatures by the person authorised to sign the documents.

Legal Warning:

You can use only the valid Digital Signatures issued to you. It is illegal to use Digital Signatures of anybody other than the one to whom it is issued.

Certification Agencies:

Certification Agencies are appointed by the office of the Controller of Certification Agencies (CCA) under the provisions of IT Act, 2000. There are a total of seven Certification Agencies authorised by the CCA to issue the Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs). The details of these Certification Agencies are available on the portal of the Ministry www.mca.gov.in

Class of DSCs:

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has stipulated a Class-II or above category certificate for e-filings under MCA21. A person who already has the specified DSC for any other application can use the same for filings under MCA21 and is not required to obtain a fresh DSC.

Validity of Digital Signatures:

The DSCs are typically issued with one year validity and two year validity. These are renewable on expiry of the period of initial issue.

Costing/ Pricing of Digital Signatures:

It includes the cost of medium (a UBS token which is a one time cost), the cost of issuance of DSC and the renewal cost after the period of validity. The company representatives and professionals required to obtain DSCs are free to procure the same from any one of the approved Certification Agencies as per the web site. The issuance costs in respect of each Agency vary and are market driven.

owever, for the guidance of stakeholders, the Ministry has obtained the costs of issuance of DSCs at the consumer end from the Certification Agencies. The costs as intimated by them are as under:

Prices For Issuance Of Class-II Digital Signature at the Consumer End

 

Director Identification Number

 

The concept of a Director Identification Number (DIN) has been introduced for the first time with the insertion of Sections 266A to 266G of Companies (Amendment) Act, 2006. As such, all the existing and intending Directors have to obtain DIN within the prescribed time-frame as notified.

Step by step Process

Step by step process to be followed by the applicant is as under:

Step I. Obtain provisional DIN

The applicant is required to fill-up and submit form DIN-1 online for obtaining provisional DIN. Form DIN-1 is available under 'Apply for DIN' tab on the left hand side panel under DIN' link on the homepage of MCA portal.

If the name of a person does not have a last name, then his/ her father's first name should be filled in the mandatory 'Last Name' field in form DIN-1. In such a case, an affidavit duly notarized by a Notary Public should also be submitted along with DIN application. Click here for the format of Affidavit.

Step II. Pay Din application fee

The applicant is required to login to the MCA portal and click on 'Pay Miscellaneous fee' link available under the 'Services' tab. Select 'DIN application fee' option and enter the provisional DIN. Applicant can make the payment of fee by using any of three modes of payment available on MCA portal. Form DIN-1 will be processed only after the DIN application fee is paid.

Step III. Dispatch DIN application to MCA DIN Cell

The applicant is required to take a print-out of Form DIN-1 (containing provisional DIN generated online). Fill the service Request Number (SRN) of the fee paid. Sign the DIN application form manually and paste a good resolution photograph in the space earmarked. Attach the photocopies of the 'Proof of Identity' (Attach additional proof, if 'Father's name and 'Date of Birth' is not indicated in the 'Proof of Identity') and the 'Proof of Residence' with DIN application form and tick the relevant checkbox against the document name. Get the photograph and the attached supporting documents attested from an approved authority as specified in form DIN-1. The certifying authority must mention its particulars such as Name, COP No. etc, and affix its seal/ stamp.

Complete set of documents is required to be sent to MCA DIN Cell at Noida, by post, courier or hand delivery, as per convenience, within 60 days from the date of generation of provisional DIN online.

Processing of DIN application

DIN application is received by MCA DIN Cell. DIN application form and attached supporting documents are scrutinized and if found in order, the provisional DIN is approved and activated in the system. If there is any defect in the DIN application, the provisional DIN is rejected. It takes about a week's time to complete this process. DIN approval/ rejection letter is generated and sent by post to the applicant. The status of application can also be tracked from the 'DIN Approval status' tab in the DIN corner.

Steps after approval of DIN : (Applicable only for existing directors appointed upto 30 th June, 2007)

1. Intimate approved DIN to your Companies
   
   On approval of DIN, intimate your DIN to all the company(ies) (within a period of 30 days from the date of approval) in which you are a Director, in form DIN-2. Form DIN-2 can be downloaded and printed from the 'DIN' link on the homepage of MCA portal.
2. Company to intimate your DIN to ROC
   
   After the Director has intimated the DIN allotted to the company(ies), the Company(ies) is/are then required to intimate the DINs of its directors to the ROC in Form DIN-3 within a period of seven days of receiving form DIN-2.

Post-approval changes in particulars of DIN-1
If there is any change in the particulars submitted in form DIN-1, File form DIN-4 for intimating the changes in the particulars within 30 days. For instance in the event of change of address of a director, he/ she is required to intimate this change by submitting Form DIN-4 along with the required attested documents with MCA DIN Cell.

Now, you can proceed to open your Form DIN-I fill-up and apply.

 

Register Digital Signature Certificate

 

Role check for Indian companies is to be implemented in the MCA application. Role check can be performed only after the signatories have registered their Digital signature certificates (DSC) with MCA.

Once the role check is implemented, system shall verify whether the signature on the eform filed, is of signatory of the company.

Step by step Process for DSC registration by Director
Step by step Process for DSC registration by Manager/Secretary
Step by step Process for DSC registration by Practising Professional

Step by step Process for Director

Step by step process to be followed for registration of Director’s DSC is as under:

1. Click on the 'Register DSC' link available on the MCA portal homepage.
2. On the next screen, click on the 'Director' link on the left hand panel and fill-up your DIN. Please ensure that the DIN is approved and typed correctly.
3. System shall verify that the DIN is valid and approved. If the DIN is filled incorrectly or DIN filled is not approved, system will throw an error message to that effect.
4. Fill-up rest of the particulars and ensure that details filled are as per DIN- 1. If the applicant has filed DIN-4, then fill the details as submitted in DIN-4 form.
5. Click on the 'Next' button. The system would verify the details.
6. If the details filled do not match with DIN-1/ DIN-4, as the case may be, for the reason that you do not have your DIN application details, you can get the details from the company in which you are a director.
7. If the details are correct, the system would prompt you to select the DSC.
8. Click on the 'Select Certificate' button to browse and select the certificate. Please ensure that the selected DSC belongs to the applicant, whose particulars are being registered.
9. System shall validate the DSC. If the selected DSC is already registered against given DIN, system will give an informatory message. If a different DSC is already registered against the given DIN, system will ask if the user wants to update his/ her DSC.
10. Type the displayed system generated text for verification in the box provided.
11. Click on 'I agree' button to agree to the declaration that details furnished are correct.
12. Click on the 'Submit' button to register your DSC.
13. Acknowledgement message is displayed to the user.
14. User can take a print-out of the acknowledgement.
15. The applicant can click on the 'Reset' function to clear the data in the fields.

Step by step Process for Manager/Secretary

Step by step process to be followed for registration of Manager’s/Secretary’s DSC is as under:

1. Click on the 'Register DSC' link available on the MCA portal homepage
2. On the next screen, click on the 'Manager/Secretary' link on the left hand panel and fill-up the particulars. Please ensure that the Income tax PAN and other details are as per the information filed in DIN-3 Form.
3. Click on the 'Next' button. The system would verify the details.
4. If PAN details do not exist in the system due to non-filing of DIN-3 form or details filled do not match with details submitted in DIN-3 form, system will throw an error message to that effect.
5. If the details do not match with DIN-3 filing for the reason that you do not have the details filed in DIN-3 form, you can get the details from the company in which you are manager/ secretary.
6. If the details are correct, the system would prompt to select the DSC.
7. Click on the 'Select Certificate' button to browse and select the certificate. Please ensure that the selected DSC belongs to the applicant, whose particulars are being registered.
8. System shall validate the DSC. If the selected DSC is already registered against given PAN, system will give an informatory message. If a different DSC is already registered against the given PAN, system will ask if the user wants to update his/ her DSC.
9. Type the displayed system generated text for verification in the box provided.
10. Click on 'I agree' button to agree to the declaration that details furnished are correct.
11. Click on the 'Submit' button to register your DSC.
12. Acknowledgement message is displayed to the user.
13. User can take a print-out of the acknowledgement.
14. The applicant can click on the 'Reset' function to clear the data in the fields.

Step by step Process for Practising Professional

Step by step process to be followed for registration of Practising Professional's DSC is as under:

1. Click on the 'Register DSC' link available on the MCA portal homepage
2. On the next screen, click on the 'Practising Professional' link on the left hand panel and fill-up the particulars. Please ensure that the details filled as per the records of your professional institute.
3. Click on the 'Next' button. The system would verify the details from the records provided by the concerned professional institute.
4. If the membership or enrolment number is wrong or details filled do not match with the records provided by the professional institute, system will throw an error message to that effect. If you do not have the details as recorded by your Institute, you can get the details from your Institute.
5. If the details are correct, the system would prompt to enter the income tax PAN.
6. The applicant is asked to verify and confirm the PAN. On confirmation, the system would prompt to select the DSC.
7. Click on the 'Select Certificate' button to browse and select the certificate. Please ensure that the selected DSC belongs to the applicant, whose particulars are being registered.
8. Type the displayed system generated text for verification in the box provided.
9. Click on 'I agree' button to agree to the declaration that details furnished are correct.
10. Click on the 'Submit' button to register your DSC.
11. Acknowledgement message is displayed to the user.
12. User can take a print-out of the acknowledgement.
13. The applicant can click on the 'Reset' function to clear the data in the fields.

 

 

eFiling

 

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has introduced the MCA21 e-Governance programme with a view to providing all services relating to ROC offices on-line in e-Governance mode. All filings from September 16, 2006 can be done only under the Digital Signatures of the authorised person (MD/ Director/ Company Secretary as the case may be). There are various channels available to stakeholders to enable them to do the statutory filing with ROC offices across the country:

• The Virtual Front Office through www.mca.gov.in portal;
• Registrar’s Front Offices set-up under the Project and Managed & operated by the Operator(53 all over India); and
• Certified Filing Centers managed and operated by the Professionals on user charge basis (550 plus centers approved all over India at 85 cities).

Virtual Front Office

MCA21 replaces the erstwhile practices broadly consisting of physically filing of documents, incorporation of companies and inspection of documents with the Registrar of Companies. This project is the first of its kind and is intended to create a health business eco system conducive to foreign investment thereby boosting the Indian economy.

Common ERRORS committed while availing services on MCA portal.

1. Payment of challan not done before the expiry date: If payment of challan is not made before the expiry date, the transaction gets cancelled and applicant needs to file the eForm again on MCA portal to generate a fresh challan for payment.
2. Payment of fees (via challan) through other option: Once a challan is generated, its payment has to be made in an auhorised bank branch. Payment against eFiling should not be made using any mode of payment on MCA portal e.g. Miscellaneous Fee option, as in such a case the payment made does not get linked with the original Filing Transaction / SRN.
3. Duplicate Payment : Always check the payment status of original / previous SRN before trying to make payment again for the same transaction. If the payment status is ‘Paid’ do not pay again.
4. Verification of status of eFiling: The SRN No. is the key for verification of status of eFiling. Please note down the SRN generated by the system before making the payment / for the purpose of checking the payment / transaction status.
5. Inspection of public documents: On confirmation of payment, a link is made available under ‘My documents’ tab to view the documents online. This link will be valid for seven days – you can view these documents anytime within 7 days of appearing those under ‘My Documents’. However, online viewing is provided for continuous three hours maximum, once you begin this activity.
6. eForm version used is not latest: Always download a fresh eForm for eFiling from the MCA portal.
7. Modify or Sign the eForm numerous times which increases the size of the eform: While signing the eform click on ‘Sign and save as’ option to affix the DSC to keep the size of the eForm minimum.
8. Uploading eForm in case of “Required Resubmission” : If the transaction status is “Required Resubmission”, the eForm needs to be filled again correctly and filed against the original SRN. Do not use ‘Addendum’ option as transaction through ‘addendum’ will not be processed against ‘Resubmission’. ‘Addendum’ facility is used for providing additional information, if any, to RoC.
9. Mistaking the status “Required Resubmission” as rejection of the eform and take no action. If the status of SRN is “Required Resubmission“ then file the eForm again by giving SRN of original filing and uploading eForm by clicking ‘Resubmit’ button, under ‘eForm upload’ link. After re-submission the status of SRN will change and eForm will be available for processing at RoC office.
10. Wrong particulars in eForms – ensure accuracy while filling following values in the corresponding eForm:

Form 1A

·         Amount of authorized capital ( eg.10 Lacs instead of 1 Lac)

·         Company type, should be either Private or Public

·         State under the jurisdiction of same RoC (eg. Jharkhand instead of Bihar)

Form1

·         Company type (e.g. “Part IX Company” or “Producer Company” in place of “New Company” or vice-versa)

·         Company category / sub-category (e.g. “SGC” or “GOI”).

Form 8

·         Date of charge creation / modification

·         Original / Final amount while creation / modification of charge

Form 23

·         Type of resolution (Board / Shareholders / Ordinary / Special resolution type) selection differs from the attachment

Form 5

·         Wrong amount of revised capital

·         Simultaneous filing of multiple eForm 5 for a company before approval of erstwhile form 5 filed. Wait for first eForm’s approval before proceeding with next eForm 5.

Please check the particulars filled in the eform before filing. Once an eform is approved, any wrong information given in the eform cannot be rectified.

11. Update JAVA / Adobe software.
    Use only prescribed versions of JAVA / Adobe software, as listed on the portal.

 

 

 

Annual eFiling

 

Overview

As a part of Annual eFiling, Companies incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 are required to efile the following documents with the Registrar of Companies (RoC):

 

Step by Step Process for Additional Attachments to form 23AC :

1. If the size of Form 23AC exceeds 2.5 MB, remove some attachments or split and attach only a small part of the attachment to limit the Form size to 2.5 MB.
   
   You can upload the remaining/ other parts of attachments separately using ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’ as below.

 

2. Download the ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’ from ‘Annual Filing Corner’ link on the homepage of MCA portal.

 

3. Enter the CIN and click ‘Pre-fill’ button to automatically fill the name and address of the Company in the eForm.

 

4. Fill the date of relevant Balance Sheet.

 

5. Select the type of document from the dropdown list and click ‘Attach’ button to ‘browse and select’ the file to be attached. You have the option to attach maximum 5 documents.

 

6. Fill the signatory details i.e. Designation and DIN/ Membership No.

 

7. Affix the Digital Signature Certificate of the signatory

 

8. Click ‘Verify’ button. In case of any error, rectify the same and repeat this step.

 

9. Close the Form and save it again on prompting by the system. Please ensure that size of ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’ does not exceed 2.5 MB.

 

10. If you wish to attach more attachments, please download a fresh Form and repeat the above steps. You have the option to upload maximum two ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’ against one Form 23AC.

 

11. After uploading of Form 23AC on MCA portal, system will prompt for following options:
    1. File Form 23ACA
    2. File additional attachments to Form 23AC

 

12. Select the second option and upload saved ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’.

 

13. After uploading of one ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’, system will again prompt for making a selection. If you have the second ‘Additional Attachment Sheet’ for uploading, select the second option again and upload the same. Otherwise select the first option and upload Form 23ACA to complete the filing and proceed to ‘payment option’ screen.

 

14. If you have uploaded two ‘Additional Attachment Sheets’ system will prompt you to file Form 23ACA to complete the filing and proceed to ‘payment option’ screen.

 

Important Points to Remember

• Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Accounts are to be filed as two separate documents with different e-Forms;

 

• Each e-Form along with the relevant attachment(s) should be less than 2.5 MB.

 

• The Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account and Annual Return are filed as attachments to the respective e-Forms. A scanned copy considerably increases the size of the document besides being more expensive. You are therefore, advised to convert the Text file/ Excel sheets by using the PDF converter software (PDF conversion facility is also available on the MCA portal for business users) and upload these attachments as PDF documents.

 

• The MCA database in respect of Authorised Capital and Paid-up Capital needs to be verified by the respective Companies, as it may not be correct. The Companies are requested to apply for correction of Master Data, should they find any discrepancies. In the meantime, the Companies can declare the correct amount of Authorised Capital and Paid-up Capital in the respective annual filing Forms.

 

How to do the Filing

Companies can do e-Filing in three different ways:

• The Company representative can upload the e-Forms on the MCA portal through the ‘Annual Filing Corner’ link (after registering oneself as a user of the portal) at his convenience from his office/ home. This is the most convenient way of e-Filing.

 

• The Company representative can prepare the e-Forms as per guidelines, get them digitally signed by the authorized signatory, copy them in a CD or a pen drive and visit the nearest “Registrar’s Front Office” (RFO). RFO staff will assist in uploading of eForms on MCA portal. For addresses/ phone numbers of RFOs, please refer to the “Facilitation Centre” link on the homepage of MCA portal.

 

• The Company representative can also contact any of the Certified Filing Centers (CFCs) for the Annual Filing of e-Forms by paying the service charges to the CFCs. The details about the CFCs are available under the ‘Certified Filing Centre’ tab on the homepage of MCA Portal.

Company Master Data and Charge Documents

 

The Company Master Data and Charge data has been migrated from the legacy system. There are possibilities that the Company Master Data and Charge Data are incorrect. The facility of correction of Master Data has been made available without any charge. However, this facility, without any charges, would be available only for a limited period of time (up to 31 March 2009). Accordingly, all the companies are requested to view their Company Master Data and take appropriate steps. A similar facility has also been made available in respect of the 'Register of Charges' for the companies by clicking on to the 'View Index of Charges'.

Step by step Process

1. To access Master Company Data click “Verify Company Master Data” link on the left hand side of this page.
2. Enter the Company Name or CIN of the Company.
3. Click the Submit button in case CIN is entered.
4. Press the “Search” button in case CIN is not available after entering the first few characters in Company Name field.
5. List of companies would appear. Select your company by clicking the ‘Select’ button.
6. CIN of the Company with Company Name shall be displayed on the screen.
7. Click the Submit button once CIN is displayed.
8. System shall display the Company master data.
9. Verify the Master data of the company. If any correction is required in the master details, Click the ‘Print’ button.
10. Master data shall be displayed in a tabular form.Take the print out of the same.
11. Enter the correct data against the appropriate field in the verification Column.
12. Enclose a copy of the evidence supporting such correction and send the same by post to the concerned Registrar of Companies (Registrar Address is also displayed on the printed page) in an envelope super-scribed 'Master Company Data Correction'.
13. Upon receipt of your request, the ROC would arrange to get the requisite corrections made after verification of the supporting evidence.