Section137
The Companies Act, 2013

Copy of financial statement to be filed with Registrar

In force From 01 Apr 2014 Act 18 of 2013 As on 14 Oct 2026

Act 18 of 2013 Ministry Corporate Affairs Enacted 29 Aug 2013 In force 01 Apr 2014 Cited by 2 provisions Instruments 21

Section 137 of the Companies Act, 2013 deals with copy of financial statement to be filed with Registrar. A copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statement, if any, along with all the documents which are required to be or attached to such financial statements under this Act, duly adopted at the annual general meeting of the company, shall be filed with the Registrar within t The Act came into force on 01 Apr 2014.

(1) A copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statement, if any, along with all the documents which are required to be or attached to such financial statements under this Act, duly adopted at the annual general meeting of the company, shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of annual general meeting in such manner, with such fees or additional fees as may be prescribed 1***:

Provided that where the financial statements under sub-section (1) are not adopted at annual general meeting or adjourned annual general meeting, such unadopted financial statements along with the required documents under sub-section (1) shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of annual general meeting and the Registrar shall take them in his records as provisional till the financial statements are filed with him after their adoption in the adjourned annual general meeting for that purpose:

Provided further that financial statements adopted in the adjourned annual general meeting shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of such adjourned annual general meeting with such fees or such additional fees as may be prescribed 1***:

Provided also that a One Person Company shall file a copy of the financial statements duly adopted by its member, along with all the documents which are required to be attached to such financial statements, within one hundred eighty days from the closure of the financial year:

Provided also that a company shall, along with its financial statements to be filed with the Registrar, attach the accounts of its subsidiary or subsidiaries which have been incorporated outside India and which have not established their place of business in India.

2[Provided also that in the case of a subsidiary which has been incorporated outside India (herein referred to as foreign subsidiary), which is not required to get its financial statement audited under any law of the country of its incorporation and which does not get such financial statement audited, the requirements of the fourth proviso shall be met if the holding Indian company files such unaudited financial statement along with a declaration to this effect and where such financial statement is in a language other than English, along with a translated copy of the financial statement in English.]

(2) Where the annual general meeting of a company for any year has not been held, the financial statements along with the documents required to be attached under sub-section (1), duly signed along with the statement of facts and reasons for not holding the annual general meeting shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the last date before which the annual general meeting should have been held and in such manner, with such fees or additional fees as may be prescribed 3***.

(3) If a company fails to file the copy of the financial statements under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, before the expiry of the period specified 4 [therein] the company shall be 5 [liable to a penalty] of 6 [ten thousand rupees and in case of continuing failure, with a further penalty of one hundred rupees for each day during which such failure continues, subject to a maximum of two lakh rupees,] and the managing director and the Chief Financial Officer of the company, if any, and, in the absence of the managing director and the Chief Financial Officer, any other director who is charged by the Board with the responsibility of complying with the provisions of this section, and, in the absence of any such director, all the directors of the company, shall be 7 [shall be liable to a penalty of 8 [ten thousand rupees] and in case of continuing failure, with a further penalty of one hundred rupees for each day after the first during which such failure continues, subject to a maximum of 9 [fifty thousand rupees.]

Section 137, The Companies Act, 2013 (Act 18 of 2013).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Binay Kishore Prasad v. Union of India (Registrar of Companies, Bihar)

    High Court 25 Apr 2016 Persuasive (High Court) Criminal Miscellaneous No.5209 of 2011

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    Patna HC Anjana Prakash J, Cr.Misc. 5209/2011, Final Order order-1.pdf 2016-04-25 DATE VERIFIED. Quashes cognizance under Companies Act 1956 s.220(3) for failure to provide company balance-sheet: belated complaint; punishment fine-only; prosecution barred by limitation (counsel cited CrPC 468/416). Map as successor to Companies Act 2013 s.137 (copy of financial statement to be filed with Registrar)—NOT 2013 s.220 (seizure by inspector).

    On this section: 1956 s.220(3) balance-sheet filing offence maps to 2013 s.137 filing of financial statements with ROC; belated fine-only prosecution quashed.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Made under this section, and citing it

8 instruments state that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.

Another 13 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.

All subordinate legislation

Questions about Section 137

What have the courts held on Section 137 of the Companies Act?

Binay Kishore Prasad v. Union of India (Registrar of Companies, Bihar) (25 Apr 2016) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: 1956 s.220(3) balance-sheet filing offence maps to 2013 s.137 filing of financial statements with ROC; belated fine-only prosecution quashed.

How do I find court cases under Section 137 of the Companies Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Companies Act 137, section 137 Companies Act, section 137 of the Companies Act. People searching for it also type companies act 2013 section 137. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Binay Kishore Prasad v. Union of India (Registrar of Companies, Bihar) (25 Apr 2016).

What should I read with Section 137 of the Companies Act, and has it changed?

2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there are 8: most recently G.S.R 40(E) Companies (Accounts) Amendment Rules, 2023 (2023), then G.S.R 408(E) Companies accounts second amendment rules 2023 dated 31.05.2023 (2023), and 6 more.

When did Section 137 of the Companies Act come into force?

Section 137 of the Companies Act, cited as Companies Act 137, came into force on 01 Apr 2014, having been enacted on 29 Aug 2013. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 14 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.