Running an OPC feels deceptively low-maintenance — one member, one director, no board politics to manage. That simplicity is exactly what trips people up on the compliance side, because an OPC skips the Annual General Meeting that normally anchors a company's filing calendar for every other structure. No AGM means no natural reminder, and a surprising number of solo founders miss a filing simply because there was no meeting on the calendar to prompt them.
Here's what actually needs filing each year, the forms involved, and where the real deadlines sit — which, for an OPC specifically, aren't quite what people assume.
Every other company holds an Annual General Meeting within six months of its financial year closing, and most filing deadlines are calculated from that meeting date. An OPC doesn't hold one — Section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013 exempts it entirely, and instead, the sole member simply passes a written resolution to adopt the financial statements, which stands in for the meeting for filing purposes.
This doesn't reduce the actual filing obligations, just how the deadlines are calculated. Because there's no real meeting date to count from, the law sets a fixed window from the end of the financial year instead, which is a meaningfully different calendar than what applies to a private limited company.
Form AOC-4 — this is where your audited financial statements (balance sheet, profit and loss account, and the board's report) get filed with the Registrar of Companies. For an OPC, it's due within 180 days of the financial year ending, not 30 days after an AGM like other companies, simply because there's no AGM to count from.
Form MGT-7A — the annual return, and specifically the abridged version created for OPCs and small companies, not the standard MGT-7 that larger private companies file. It's due within 60 days of the date the AGM would have been held had the company needed one — effectively, 60 days from a notional date roughly six months after the financial year ends.
Statutory audit — mandatory for every OPC, regardless of turnover, activity level, or whether the company had any transactions at all during the year. A dormant OPC with zero revenue still needs an audit showing nil figures; there's no small-company exemption from this one.
Form ADT-1 — used to formally notify the Registrar of the auditor's appointment, generally due within 15 days of the appointment being made.
Income tax return (ITR-6) — separate from the ROC filings entirely, and due either by the end of September or the end of October depending on whether the company's accounts require a tax audit.
DIR-3 KYC — keeps the director's DIN active. This used to be an annual filing, but MCA has since moved it to a three-year cycle, so it's worth checking whether your specific filing year falls due before assuming it's needed every year.
DPT-3 — a return of deposits, due by the end of June if the company has any loans or deposits that fall within its scope, even where those amounts might seem too minor to bother with.
An OPC generally needs to hold at least one board meeting in each half of the calendar year, with a gap of at least 90 days between the two — though if the OPC has only a single director, this specific requirement doesn't apply in the same way, since there's no multi-member board to convene. Where it does apply, minutes still need to be properly recorded and kept as part of the statutory record, even in a company where, practically speaking, one person is making every decision anyway.
A lingering myth about OPCs is that they're required to hold an Annual General Meeting but are simply allowed to do it electronically. That's not accurate — an OPC doesn't hold an AGM at all, in any form. The exemption under Section 96 is a full exemption from the AGM requirement, not a permission to hold a virtual one. What replaces it is the sole member's written resolution under Section 122, and that's the mechanism the filing deadlines are actually built around.
Late filing of AOC-4 or MGT-7A attracts an additional daily fee on top of the standard filing fee, and this accrues without an effective upper limit — a delay of a few months can turn a modest filing fee into a genuinely significant cost. Beyond the financial penalty, sustained non-compliance can also trigger regulatory scrutiny of the company's standing, which is a bigger headache to unwind than simply filing on time would have been.
Older guidance on OPCs often mentions a mandatory conversion to a private limited company once turnover or paid-up capital crosses a certain threshold. This trigger was significantly eased by amendments to the Companies (Incorporation) Rules in 2021, giving OPCs considerably more flexibility than they had earlier — it's no longer the automatic, rigid switch it once was. If your OPC is approaching what used to be considered the conversion threshold, it's worth checking current applicability with a professional rather than relying on older articles that cite the pre-2021 position.
No. Section 96 of the Companies Act, 2013 fully exempts an OPC from holding an AGM, in either physical or virtual form. Instead, the sole member adopts the financial statements through a written resolution.
Form MGT-7A, the abridged annual return created specifically for OPCs and small companies, rather than the standard MGT-7 that applies to larger private limited companies.
Yes. Statutory audit applies to every OPC regardless of turnover or activity level. Even a fully dormant company needs audited financial statements showing nil figures.
It's due within 180 days from the end of the financial year, rather than 30 days after an AGM as with other companies, since there's no meeting date for the calculation to reference.
Both AOC-4 and MGT-7A attract an additional daily fee for late filing, on top of the regular fee, and this continues to accrue without an effective cap, making delayed filings considerably more expensive over time.
The rigid, automatic conversion trigger that once applied was significantly eased by 2021 amendments to the incorporation rules. It's worth confirming the current position with a professional if your OPC is approaching what used to be considered that threshold, rather than relying on older information.