When is the AGM due date under section 96?

Who must hold an AGM?

Section 96 requires every company other than a One Person Company to hold, in each year, a general meeting as its annual general meeting, and to call it that in the notice. The meeting is in addition to any other general meeting held that year.

An OPC is outside this section. It still prepares financial statements and files them with the Registrar. That filing is not counted from an AGM, because there is none.

What time limits does section 96 set?

Section 96 runs three limits at once. Missing any one of them is a default, even if the others still have days left.

For a 31 March year-end, six months is 30 September. That date is arithmetic, not a date the Act writes down. A company whose year ends on 31 December has until 30 June. If last year's AGM was held early, the fifteen-month gap can close before the six-month year-end clock does. Count both.

The first AGM is the only one with nine months. After that, the six-month year-end rule applies. Holding the first meeting late does not buy nine months again the next year.

Which clock binds when both are running?

Whichever expires first. Section 96(1) sets the six-month year-end limit and the fifteen-month inter-AGM gap as independent conditions, so a company that held last year's AGM on 1 July has until 1 October on the gap but only 30 September on the six-month clock for a 31 March year-end. Diary the earlier of the two dates.

Can the Registrar extend an AGM?

The Registrar may, for any special reason, extend the time for an annual general meeting by a period not exceeding three months. That power is in the second proviso to section 96(1). It does not apply to the first AGM.

An extension is an order, not a habit. File for it before the original limit expires. Once granted, AOC-4 and the annual return move with the new meeting date, because those filings count from the AGM, not from 30 September.

Where can an AGM be held?

Section 96(2) requires the meeting during business hours, on a day that is not a National Holiday, at the registered office or at some other place in the city, town or village where that office sits. An unlisted company may hold it anywhere in India if every member consents in writing or by electronic mode in advance.

Notice of the meeting is a separate duty, in section 101. Default in holding the AGM is punished under section 99.

Which filings follow the AGM?

Two ROC filings run from the meeting. AOC-4 is generally due within thirty days of the AGM at which the financial statements are adopted. MGT-7 or MGT-7A is generally due within sixty days of the AGM. A late meeting therefore late-shifts both, and an on-time meeting with a slow board pack still misses them.

What if the AGM is never held?

The AOC-4 clock still starts. Under section 137(1), where the annual general meeting is not held, the financial statements are filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the last day on which the AGM should have been held, together with the reasons for not holding it. Default in holding the meeting is separately punishable under section 99, with a fine up to one lakh rupees on the company and every officer in default, and a further five thousand rupees for each day the default continues.

How do I check my company's AGM deadline?

1. Read section 96 for the six-month, nine-month and fifteen-month limits, and for the three-month ROC extension.
2. Count from the company's own year-end and from the date of the last AGM, not from a national calendar note.
3. If the meeting will miss those limits, apply to the Registrar before they expire. The first AGM cannot be extended.
4. Once the AGM is held, file AOC-4 within thirty days and the annual return within sixty days.

Why do companies miss the AGM deadline?

• Treating 30 September as the statutory due date for every company, including those whose year does not end on 31 March.
• Watching only the six-month year-end clock and letting more than fifteen months pass since the last AGM.
• Assuming the first AGM's nine months also covers the next one, or that the ROC can extend the first meeting.
• Holding the meeting on time and then missing AOC-4 or the annual return because the signed pack was not ready.

Where does MCA notify AGM relaxations?

MCA circulars that change AGM venue, e-meeting, or fee-waiver practice land in the MCA updates feed. Open the source behind a change, then read section 96 next to it. The six-month and fifteen-month clocks themselves stay in the Act until a gazette amendment says otherwise.