The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“Ministry”) has issued notification for condonation of delay in filing of Form-3 (LLP Agreement and changes therein), Form-4 (Notice of appointment, cessation, change in name/ address/ designation of a designated partner or partner and consent to become a partner/ designated partner), and Form-11 (Annual Return of LLP), owing the difficulties faced by Limited Liability Partnerships (“LLPs”) for filing of the said Forms. The new Forms for delayed filing will be available for filing from 01.09.2023 onwards till 30.11.2023 (both dates inclusive).
Key Features of the Condonation:
1. The Form-3 and Form-4 will be processed under Straight Through Process (“STP”) mode for all purposes except for change in business activities. The stakeholders have been advised to file these forms in sequential manner i.e., the filing for old events date may be filed first, and so on so as to update the master data in proper manner.
2. At the time of filing these forms, the pre-filled data as per existing master data of the LLP will have to be provided in each of above-mentioned forms but the same should have the facility to edit. The onus of filing correct data will be on the stakeholders. In case of misrepresentation, the Designated Partner and the professional certifying the form can be made liable for adverse action as per provisions of the law.
3. The filing of Form-3 and Form-4 without additional fee will be applicable for the event dates 01.01.2021 and onwards. For events dated prior to 01.01.2021, these forms can be filed with “02” times and “04” times of normal filing fees as additional fee for small LLPs and other than small LLPs respectively.
4. The filing of Form-11 without additional fee will be applicable for the financial year 2021-22 onwards. Form-11 for previous years (prior to financial year 2021-22) can be filed with “02” times and “04” times of normal filing fee as additional fee for small LLPs and other than small LLPs respectively.
5. The LLPs availing the scheme will not be liable for any action for delayed filing of the Form-3, Form-4 and Form-11.
Background:
Representations have been received by the Government that certain LLPs are finding difficulties in filing Form- 3, Form-4 and Form-11 for various reasons including the mismatch in the master data in electronic registry of the Ministry. Due to this, the records/data in the electronic registry were also not being updated. To address these difficulties faced by the LLPs and as part of Government’s constant efforts to promote ease of doing business, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has decided to grant one-time relaxation in additional fees to those LLPs who could not file the Form-3, Form-4 and Form-11 within due date and provide an opportunity to update their filings and details in Master-data for future compliances.
Please click on the hyperlink below for a detailed read of the notification.
Source: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs
