Section 403 Companies Act: Fee for filing, etc

Section 403 of Companies Act: Corporate Governance & Statutory Compliance

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

1. Any document, required to be submitted, filed, registered or recorded, or any fact or information required or authorised to be registered under this Act, shall be submitted, filed, registered or recorded within the time specified in the relevant provision on payment of such fee as may be prescribed:

Provided that: any document, fact or information may be submitted, filed, registered or recorded, after the time specified in relevant provision for such submission, filing, registering or recording, within a period of two hundred and seventy days from the date by which it should have been submitted, filed, registered or recorded, as the case may be, on payment of such additional fee as may be prescribed:

Provided further that: any such document, fact or information may, without prejudice to any other legal action or liability under the Act, be also submitted, filed, registered or recorded, after the first time specified in first proviso on payment of fee and additional fee specified under this section.

2. Where a company fails or commits any default to submit, file, register or record any document, fact or information under sub-section (1 ) before the expiry of the period specified in the first proviso to that sub-section with additional fee, the company and the officers of the company who are in default, shall, without prejudice to the liability for payment of fee and additional fee, be liable for the penalty or punishment provided under this Act for such failure or default.

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Company Sec 2(20) Director Sec 2(34) Tribunal Sec 2(90)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 403

Section 403 prescribes the statutory scheme for payment of fees, additional fees, and compounding penalties for timely and belated delivery of corporate documents to the Registrar.

Timely Filing within Prescribed Period: Requires any document, fact, or information required to be filed under the Act to be submitted within the specific statutory period upon payment of the prescribed fee.
Delayed Filing with Additional Fees: Allows submission of delayed documents after the expiry of the statutory period upon payment of prescribed additional fees, which escalate based on the period of delay.
Immunity and Defaulter Ineligibility: Restricts persistent defaulting companies from filing certain statutory returns without payment of higher cascading fees, while preserving executive power to introduce one-time settlement and compliance amnesty schemes.

Key Landmark Precedents:

Techno E-Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Registrar of Companies, 2018 SCC OnLine NCLAT 484: The NCLAT held that payment of additional fees under Section 403 cures procedural delay in filing returns, but does not grant automatic immunity from criminal prosecution for substantive non-compliances.
Radhey Shyam Tulsian v. Registrar of Companies, (2002) 110 Comp Cas 351 (Cal): Held that the statutory scheme allowing delayed filings upon payment of additional fees provides an administrative mechanism to regularize records without nullifying corporate acts.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In compounding applications under Section 441, demonstrate that the delayed return has since been filed with the Registrar along with requisite additional fees under Section 403. Establishing that the registry records are current and that no creditor suffered prejudice constitutes a compelling ground for mitigating compounding fees.

Section 403: Fee for filing, etc

Section 403 of Companies Act: Corporate Governance & Statutory Compliance

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 403