ROC Mumbai Imposes Penalty for Incorrect Filing of AOC-4 XBRL by Director

ROC Mumbai Imposes Penalty for Incorrect Filing of AOC-4 XBRL by Director

The Registrar of Companies (ROC), Mumbai, imposed a penalty on the director of Chheda Jewellers Limited for submitting incorrect details and attachments in the E-form AOC-4 XBRL.

Background of the case

The Registrar of Companies, Mumbai-I, received a suo motu adjudication application from the Managing Director of the company under Section 454 of the Companies Act, 2013. The application was filed due to incorrect details submitted in E-form AOC-4 XBRL for the financial year 2022-23.

According to Rule 8(1) and Rule 8(3) of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, every e-form must be digitally signed by an authorised signatory, and such signatory is responsible for the correctness of the contents and attachments.

The applicant stated that the errors occurred due to inadvertent clerical mistakes. These included the omission of AOC-1 and AOC-2, attaching the auditor’s report of standalone financial statements instead of the consolidated report, and mentioning an incorrect date of the Annual General Meeting. Since the form was digitally signed by the Managing Director, he is responsible for these inaccuracies.

A Show Cause Notice was issued under Section 454 read with Section 450 of the Act for violation of Rule 8(3). The noticee submitted his reply through the e-adjudication portal. He did not request a hearing, and the Adjudicating Officer also found that a hearing was not necessary in this case.

ROC observed that the company had filed the E-form AOC-4 XBRL on July 05, 2024. However, incorrect documents were attached, and required attachments were omitted. The form was approved under the Straight Through Process (STP) system. This resulted in non-compliance with Rule 8(3), which mandates the correctness of the form and its attachments. Since the form was certified and signed by the director, he is held liable for the default.

Accordingly, a penalty of Rs 10,000 has been imposed on the director under Section 450 of the Companies Act, 2013.