Public Limited Company Compliance in India

After the public limited company registration, your legal obligations as a business owner begin. These obligations come in the form of compliance that must be taken care of. The compliances are forms you must fill and submit to the Registrar of Companies and must be done within the prescribed time. Failure to comply with these compliances can cause the public company owner to pay heavy penalties.

Eligibility Criteria for Annual Compliance for Public Limited Company in India

If your business entity is registered as a Public Limited Company or PLC, then as per Companies Act 2013, you are required by law to file the annual compliance for a public limited company. The only eligibility criteria here is to be a public limited company.  

Details of the Requisite Compliance

All registered Public Limited Companies must file their Annual Returns with the Registrar of Companies in the e-form MGT 7. The filing must be conducted within 60 days from the date of the AGM, i.e., the Annual General Meeting. A Public Company can file its Annual Returns with the digital signature of the appointed directors of the Company or the registered DSCs of the Chartered Accountant auditing the Public Company.

Suppose any of the following entities want to file its annual return filing or a company with or more turnover of fifty crore rupees. In that case, they must have the ROC filing certified by a practising Company Secretary in the e-Form MGT 8:

• Listed Company on Stock Exchange
• Company with a paid-up share capital of Rs. 10 crores
• Company with a turnover of Rs. 50 crores or more
• Details Provided in Annual Return

The filed returns must contain the information from the previous financial year, such as:

About Company:

• Registered Office Address
• Principal Business Activities of the incorporation
• Particulars of its Public Company's Holdings
• Public Company's Subsidiary
• Associate Companies

About Shares:

• Shares details
• Debentures
• Securities
• Shareholding pattern of the Public Company
• Public Company's Indebtedness details

About Membership:

• Member details
• Debenture holders and the requisite changes since the previous financial year's closure

About Public Company Personnel:

• Promoters Details
• Directors information
• Key Managerial Personnel, along with the changes since the previous financial year's closure

About General Meetings:

• Meeting Members details
• Meeting Members classes
• Board of Directors
• Various Committees
• Attendance Details of the Meeting

For Public Limited Company:

• Remuneration of Directors
• Remuneration of Key Managerial Personnel

About Penalties:

• Penalty/Imposed Punishment details
• Penalties served by the Public Company's Directors/Officers
• Offence Compounding details
• Appeals against Penalty/Punishment

About Compliance:

• Certification of Compliances
• Disclosures details

About FDIs:

Share Details held by Foreign Institutional Investors, such as:

• Names
• Addresses
• Countries of Company's Incorporation
• Registration
• Percentage of FDI's shareholding

Public Company's Undertaking:

• Undertaking Details signed by Directors or the Company Secretary
• If the Public Company appoints no Company Secretary, then a practising Company Secretary 

Documents Required for filing Public Limited Company Compliances in India

The documents and information required for public limited company compliance are the following:

1. Financial statements of the financial year
2. Shareholding structure associated with the PLC
3. Address of the registered office
4. A maintained register of the company
5. Compliance certificate from the Company Secretary
6. Member Registration Details
7. Details regarding the company management
8. Details regarding the shares and debentures of the company
9. Debt and Charge details of the company
10. In the case of event-based compliance, if there is a director change, then the details pertaining to the changes are needed
11. In event-based compliance, if there is an event related to sharing transfer, then the details of the same are also needed
12. The shareholding structure of the company

Process for filing Annual Compliance for Public Limited Company in India

Falling under the Companies Act 2013, the annual compliance for a public limited company consists of the following:

1. A maintenance and preparation of all the financial records that are needed to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies on an annual basis
2. Filing the Annual returns in the MGT-7 form
3. Filing for certification of Annual Return form MGT-8. 
4. Income tax returns on the annual basis
5. A secretarial Audit report in form MR-3
6. The annual compliances that are under the rules and regulations associated with SEBI
7. Annual General meeting report in form MGT-15
8. Event Based Annual Compliances
9. Adoption of Financials and Director’s report in the MGT-14 form.

There are other compliances that are same as that of a private limited company compliance.You can understand more about them here.

Process for filing Annual Compliance for Public Limited Company in India

Falling under the Companies Act 2013, the annual compliance for a public limited company consists of the following:

Maintenance and preparation of all the financial records that are needed to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies on an annual basis

1. Maintenance and preparation of all the financial records that are needed to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies on an annual basis
2. Filing the Annual returns in the MGT-7 form
3. Filing for certification of Annual Return form MGT-8. 
4. Income tax returns on the annual basis
5. A secretarial Audit report in form MR-3
6. The annual compliances that are under the rules and regulations associated with SEBI
7. Annual General Meeting report in form MGT-15
8. Event-Based Annual Compliances
9. Adoption of Financials and Director's report in the MGT-14 form.

Other compliances are the same as that of private limited company compliance. You can understand more about them here.