Form ADT-1: Due Date, the New First-Auditor Rule & Fees (2026)

When ADT-1 is required — and when it is not

• Appointment or re-appointment of the auditor at an AGM — a fresh 5-year term needs a fresh ADT-1.
• First auditor appointed by the Board (or members, or the C&AG for government companies) — mandatory since 14 July 2025, within 15 days of the appointment.
• Filling a casual vacancy after an auditor resigns or dies — the replacement appointment is filed, with the outgoing auditor’s details and the reason.
• Not required year-to-year during a running 5-year term: annual ratification was abolished in 2018, so a continuing appointment needs no yearly filing.
• The auditor’s own resignation intimation is a different form — ADT-3, filed by the auditor.

Documents attached

• Certified copy of the Board or AGM resolution appointing the auditor.
• The auditor’s written consent to the appointment.
• The auditor’s certificate of eligibility — not disqualified under section 141.
• A copy of the company’s intimation letter to the auditor.

Fees and late fees

Normal fee by authorised capital. ADT-1 is one of only two form families (sections 139 and 157) that get a 1x grace band for the first 15 days — most other forms jump straight to 2x. It is not on the ₹100/day regime, whatever some summaries claim:

The normal fee the multipliers apply to is the ₹200–₹600 authorised-capital slab. Past-year ADT-1 backlogs are covered by CCFS-2026 until 31 August 2026.

How to file ADT-1 on MCA V3

• Log in to MCA V3 → Company e-Filing → ADT-1 (an interactive web form since July 2025).
• Enter the CIN to pre-fill, then the auditor’s details — PAN, membership or firm registration number, address, and the appointment period. V3 auto-validates tenure against the section 139(2) rotation limits.
• Attach the four documents (resolution, consent, eligibility certificate, intimation letter).
• Affix the authorised director’s or KMP’s DSC and submit.
• Pay against the SRN — the form processes in straight-through mode when complete, and the acknowledgement lands on the company’s registered email.
• Save the SRN: AOC-4 asks for it every year, and the appointment period must cover the financial year being filed.

Common slip-ups

• An appointment period that does not cover the year later cited in AOC-4 — the mismatch surfaces as an AOC-4 failure months later.
• Tenure details that trip the rotation auto-validation for companies covered by section 139(2).
• Missing consent letter or section 141 eligibility certificate.
• Assuming the auditor files it — ADT-1 is the company’s obligation.

How this date is calculated (and why other sites say a day earlier)

The Companies Act sets this deadline as a number of days measured from an event — the AGM, the incorporation date, the board meeting. How those days are counted is not left to convention: section 9 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 governs it for every Central Act. Where a period runs from a day, that first day is excluded. Where it runs to a day, the last day is included.

So for a company holding its AGM on the statutory last date of 30 September 2026, the thirty days begin on 1 October, not on 30 September. Day 30 falls on 30 October 2026.

Many commercial compliance sites publish 29 October for the same fact. That comes from counting the AGM day itself as day one — inclusive counting, which section 9 rules out. It is a single day, and a single day is the difference between an on-time filing and ₹100 per day running from the first.

If your AGM is held earlier than 30 September, the deadline moves with it — thirty days from the day after your actual AGM. Our ROC due-date calculator does the arithmetic from your AGM date.

Primary sources

The dates and fees on this page are read off the statute and the MCA’s own published forms, not copied from other guides. You can check every one of them:

• General Clauses Act, 1897 — section 9 (commencement and termination of time)
• Companies Act, 2013 — full text (India Code)
• MCA — company forms and downloads
• MCA — official portal