Form ADT-1 is the e-form that places your statutory auditor's appointment on official record with the Registrar of Companies. For a business registered in Kolkata, the form goes to ROC West Bengal, the registrar for every company whose CIN carries the WB state code. We file a steady run of these each autumn. A surprising number are for older family firms, like a Bowbazar jewellery house that converted from a partnership last year and is now meeting company compliance for the first time. The national guides explain the law well. What they skip is the West Bengal side of the filing, so that is what this page covers.
What is ADT-1 and when does the clock start?
The clock starts on the day of the AGM at which your auditor is appointed or reappointed. Under the Companies Act, 2013 the form must reach the registrar within 15 days of that meeting. Hold your AGM on 30 September and the window shuts on 15 October. There is no extension in the normal course.
Two appointments matter here. The board picks the first auditor within 30 days of incorporation, but it is the shareholder appointment at a general meeting that ADT-1 must report, every time it happens. The duty sits with the company, not with the CA who was appointed.
Most Kolkata companies close their AGMs by the end of September, so the first two weeks of October are the crunch, for us and for the registrar alike. For the statute level background on auditor appointments, read our complete ADT-1 filing guide for India. This page stays on the local mechanics.
Which Kolkata companies have to file it?
Any company on the register, whatever its size or turnover. If your certificate of incorporation says private limited, public limited, OPC or Section 8, ADT-1 applies the moment an auditor is appointed at a general meeting. The filers we see most often from the city:
- A Bowbazar jewellery business that moved from a family partnership to a private limited company and now has a formal audit to report.
- A Howrah engineering and fabrication unit whose bank wanted audited accounts before renewing its working capital limit.
- A consultancy in Salt Lake running as an OPC with one director and one CA relationship.
- A Section 8 company near Jadavpur whose grant funders check the MCA record before releasing funds.
One useful exclusion: LLPs never file ADT-1. An LLP appoints its auditor under its own rules, so if you run an LLP alongside your company, only the company carries this deadline.
What does missing the deadline actually cost?
The late fee runs at ₹300 a day and caps at ₹12,000 per default. It accrues silently, which is the dangerous part. Nobody from the registrar phones you on day 16 to warn you.
| Delay beyond day 15 | Cost at ₹300 per day | Perspective |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days | ₹1,500 | Already more than the filing fee |
| 10 days | ₹3,000 | Three times the ₹999 professional fee |
| 30 days | ₹9,000 | Nine filings paid for nothing |
| 40 days or more | ₹12,000 | The cap, per default |
The money is only half the problem. The default can attach to the officers as well, and it stays visible on the company's public master data. Lenders and buyers in Kolkata pull that data before they commit to anything. One client, a jeweller modernising the family firm, watched a bank manager open the MCA record before the loan discussion even began. A clean page there is worth far more than the ₹999 the filing costs.
How do we file ADT-1 for your Kolkata company?
- You send the basics over WhatsApp or email: CIN, AGM date, the auditor's name, membership number, firm registration number and the period of appointment.
- Our CS team drafts the board resolution and appointment letter, and checks the auditor's consent against what the registrar expects to see.
- We complete the e-form and file it on the MCA V3 portal using a director's DSC, after confirming the DSC has not expired.
- ROC West Bengal takes the form on record, and you receive the SRN with a copy of the filed form for your minute book.
Nobody visits an office at any stage. The ROC West Bengal office in the A.J.C. Bose Road area of Kolkata handles plenty of matters, but ADT-1 is not one you attend in person. Anyone who tells you a visit is needed is inventing a trip. The whole exercise usually closes in 3 to 5 working days.
What will we ask you to share?
Keep this list next to your AGM papers and the filing becomes routine:
- Your CIN and the exact AGM date, since the 15 day count runs from that date.
- The auditor's name, membership number, firm registration number and office address.
- The auditor's written consent and eligibility confirmation; we share a format if your CA does not keep one.
- The board resolution recording the appointment; we draft it afresh if it was never minuted properly.
- One director's valid DSC. An expired signature is the most common last minute failure we see, so we test it first.
If any of these are missing, we tell you at the start rather than at the deadline.
What does ADT-1 filing cost in Kolkata?
We charge ₹999 for preparing the form, filing it and handing over the SRN. If the board resolution, appointment letter and consent letter all need drafting from scratch, the complete documentation package goes up to ₹2,499. The MCA charges its own filing fee, which depends on your authorised capital; we confirm the exact figure before anything is submitted. Nothing is added beyond what we quote.
Set that against the alternative. At ₹300 a day, four days of delay outruns the entire professional fee. Most clients who reach us late say the same thing: they wish they had spent the ₹999 in the first week.
Where does ROC West Bengal fit into your annual cycle?
Every company with a registered office anywhere in West Bengal answers to the same registrar, whether you sit in Dalhousie, Burrabazar or out in Barasat like us. You can read the jurisdiction straight off your CIN. A Kolkata private company's number follows the shape U72900WB2024PTC123456, and the WB in the middle is the tell. Everything moves through the MCA V3 portal; nothing is filed on paper.
ADT-1 rarely travels alone. It belongs to the same annual cycle as AOC-4 for financial statements and MGT-7 for the annual return, with DIR-3 KYC for each director in the same season. When we file your ADT-1 we diarise the rest of the set, because a company that forgets one date usually forgets them together. And if you ever shift your registered office to another state, that application goes before the Regional Director, Eastern Region, whose office sits in Kolkata; your filing history simply follows the company to its new registrar.
Why LegalX India in Kolkata?
We work from 58B, Bidhan Park, Taki Road, Barasat, Kolkata 700124, and ROC work for West Bengal companies has been our bread and butter for over 10 years. Everything happens online, from your first message to the SRN in your inbox.
If your AGM has passed and the form has not gone in, the count has already started. Call +91 96356 85435 or request a callback; we respond within 30 minutes. Share the CIN and the AGM date, and we will tell you the same day exactly where you stand.