Brief: The introduction of the MCA V3 portal during peak filing season has been marred by technical glitches, ranging from login failures to data discrepancies. While additional filing fees may be legal, this article questions the morality of penalising companies and professionals for delays caused by the government’s own infrastructure.
Introduction
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) recently transitioned from the V2 to the V3 portal, a move that coincided with the peak annual filing season. For the corporate sector in India, particularly small and medium enterprises, the months following July are critical as they conduct Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and prepare mandatory filings. Most small companies schedule their AGMs near the statutory deadline of September 30, 2025. However, the transition was far from seamless. The old V2 portal stopped accepting payments on June 8, 2025, well before listed companies, such as Nestle (which held its AGM on June 26, 2025), were even ready to file their AOC-4 and MGT-7 forms. This gap in service, followed by a formal closure on June 18, 2025, set the stage for a compliance crisis.
The Alpha and Beta Test for Professionals
The new V3 portal launched on July 14, 2025, but appeared to lack adequate stress testing. In a standard software lifecycle, developers conduct rigorous alpha and beta tests to ensure stability. Instead, Indian Chartered Accountants (CAs) were effectively forced to perform these tests in a live environment. Professionals reported a litany of errors that hindered their ability to comply with the law:
- Authentication Barriers: Countless users were locked out of their accounts and spent weeks struggling with technical support just to regain access.
- DSC Verification Failures: Valid Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs) were frequently rejected with a generic “DSC verification failed” message, halting the filing process entirely.
- Data Integrity Issues: Migrated data was often found to be incorrect. Some companies reported that their authorized capital disappeared in the new system, raising fears that they might be asked to pay fees again to correct the portal’s own errors.
- System Timeouts: After manually filling extensive forms, the system would frequently log users out with a vague “technical error occurred” message, leaving professionals to guess the source of the fault.
The Shift to “Live” Filing and Ethical Concerns
Unlike the V2 portal, which allowed for offline preparation and a simple upload process, V3 requires data to be filled “live” while logged in. This design choice creates significant efficiency hurdles, as only one form can be processed at a time. It also introduces ethical dilemmas; consultants often find themselves needing a Director’s personal login to complete filings, a practice that blurs professional boundaries and complicates accountability.
Morality vs. Legality in Fee Levies
Even during extended filing periods, the portal’s payment gateway has remained unreliable. It is a common frustration for a professional to successfully upload twenty forms only to be blocked by a non-functional payment portal. While the government may have the legal authority to levy additional fees for late filings, it is certainly not moral when those delays are the direct result of a flawed government portal. The current “Boss is always right” approach ignores the ground reality faced by professionals who risk their memberships and reputations when systems fail.
Conclusion
The MCA website currently lists over 20,17,527 companies, yet the struggles of the individuals maintaining this compliance ecosystem are often ignored. India’s professional community remains largely silent, following a path of Ahimsa that sometimes results in a lack of collective protest. However, if the government continues to offer only lip service to MSMEs while maintaining dysfunctional infrastructure, many entrepreneurs may conclude that the Indian business environment is designed only for the largest players. True support for the business community requires empathy and a functional system where the government takes responsibility for its own technical failures.
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