Audit and Financial Reporting Requirements

Public Unlisted and Private Companies

Annual financial statements must be presented at the annual shareholders' meeting, which in the case of new companies must be held within 18 months of incorporation. Thereafter, the annual meeting must be held at least once in a calendar year, but the time gap between the meetings must not exceed 15 months.

Furthermore, the financial statements presented at the meeting must not be more than four months old. The Registrar of Joint Stock Companies may, for good reason, extend the four-month period by a further period not to exceed two months.

The public unlisted companies are required to file a copy of the financial statements contained in the reports with the Registrar together with information regarding shareholders and directors within 30 days of the annual meeting. Private companies need not file the financial statements but the information regarding shareholders and directors need to be filed within 30 days of annual meeting.

The financial statements are the same as for listed public companies, except that quarterly information is not required. The statements must be audited. A person other than a chartered accountant may be appointed auditors of a private company, if it is not a subsidiary of a public company. The reports are made available to the shareholders and, where necessary, to banks, financial institutions, and government agencies. They need not be published. Other reporting requirements are generally the same as for listed public companies.

Tax Return
Tax return requirements are the same as those for listed public companies, except that the involvement of an auditor (chartered accountant or cost and management accountant) is required only if the company's paid-up capital exceeds Rs. 500,000.

• Listed Public Companies
• Foreign, Private and Nationalized Banks
• Non-Banking Financial Institutions
• Listed Insurance Companies

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