1. Where in respect of any deposit accepted by a company before the commencement of this Act, the amount of such deposit or part thereof or any interest due thereon remains unpaid on such commencement or becomes due at any time thereafter, the company shall:—
a. file, within a period of three months from such commencement or from the date on which such payments, are due, with the Registrar a statement of all the deposits accepted by the company and sums remaining unpaid on such amount with the interest payable thereon along with the arrangements made for such repayment, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force or under the terms and conditions subject to which the deposit was accepted or any scheme framed under any law; and
b. repay within one year from such commencement or from the date on which such payments are due, whichever is earlier.
2. The Tribunal may on an application made by the company, after considering the financial condition of the company, the amount of deposit or part thereof and the interest payable thereon and such other matters, allow further time as considered reasonable to the company to repay the deposit.
3. If a company fails to repay the deposit or part thereof or any interest thereon within the time specified in sub-section (1 ) or such further time as may be allowed by the Tribunal under sub-section (2 ), the company shall, in addition to the payment of the amount of deposit or part thereof and the interest due, be punishable with fine which shall not be less than one crore rupees but which may extend to ten crore rupees and every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to seven years or with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five lakh rupees but which may extend to two crore rupees, or with both.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 74
Section 74 of the Companies Act, 2013 establishes the mandatory transitional regime for deposits accepted by companies prior to the commencement of the Act, compelling statutory disclosure in Form DPT-4 and repayment within three years or the agreed tenure, subject only to extensions granted by the National Company Law Tribunal under strict financial criteria.
When filing an extension application under Section 74(2) before the NCLT, annex audited balance sheets for the preceding three financial years, a certified cash-flow projection, and an escrow-backed staggered repayment roadmap. Pleading mere general economic slowdown without demonstrating ring-fenced asset realization will result in summary dismissal and trigger immediate RoC criminal prosecution under Section 74(3).