ROC Search Report

Before you lend to it, acquire it, partner with it, or onboard it as a vendor — read the company's MCA file. By 2026, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal (MCA21 V3) is the single most reliable public window into an Indian company's legal and financial life. Every incorporation, every share allotment, every charge, every annual return, every directorship, every prosecution, every change of registered office, every auditor's resignation — sits in that file as a public record. A ROC search report is the structured reading of that file by a Company Secretary or company-law professional, with a written opinion: clean, risky, or fatal. For M&A acquirers, lenders, vendors and joint-venture counterparties, it is the lowest-cost first cut of due diligence — and it routinely surfaces issues that the target itself either does not know about or has not disclosed.

The framework is the Companies Act 2013, Companies (Registration of Charges) Rules 2014, Companies (Management and Administration) Rules 2014, Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014, and the LLP Act 2008 for LLPs. Mandatory MCA filings include MGT-7 (Annual Return), AOC-4 (Financial Statements), DIR-3 KYC (Director KYC), CHG-1 / CHG-4 (Charge Creation / Satisfaction), MGT-14 (Board / Special Resolutions), DPT-3 (Deposits), MSME-1 (MSME Outstandings), BEN-2 (Significant Beneficial Ownership), and event-based filings on share allotment, share transfer, director change, and registered-office shift. A real ROC search reads all of these for the past 5-7 years and writes the company's compliance and legal story in plain English.

We deliver written ROC search reports — for M&A diligence, lender / NBFC due diligence, vendor and supplier KYC, joint-venture diligence, and litigation backgrounders — on Indian companies and LLPs.

What a Real ROC Search Report Examines

• Identity & Corporate Status:: CIN / LLPIN, date of incorporation, registered office, paid-up capital, authorised capital, current status (active, dormant, struck-off, under liquidation), section under which incorporated.

• Director & DIN-Based History:: Current and past directors, DINs, date of appointment, date of cessation, reason for cessation (resignation, removal, disqualification under Section 164), other directorships of the same person, DIR-3 KYC compliance.

• Charges & Encumbrances (CHG-1 / CHG-4):: Open and satisfied charges; lender, amount, security, terms; charge satisfaction status — critical for M&A and lender DD.

• Annual Returns & Financials (MGT-7 / AOC-4):: 5-7 years of annual returns and financial statements; revenue, profit, net worth trend; auditor name and resignation history; statutory compliance status; secretarial audit history (Section 204).

• Share Capital & Beneficial Ownership:: Allotment history (PAS-3), share transfer history, current shareholding pattern, BEN-2 SBO declarations, FDI compliance (Form FC-GPR / FC-TRS).

• Resolutions & Major Events (MGT-14):: Special resolutions, board resolutions; major events — change of registered office, alteration of MoA / AoA, capital changes, mergers / demergers, related-party transactions.

• Prosecutions, Adjudications & Strike-off:: Pending prosecutions filed by the ROC, adjudication orders under Section 454, strike-off proceedings under Section 248, struck-off and revival history.

What ROC Search Catches That Self-Review Misses

An open charge that the target says was satisfied (CHG-4 not filed). A director disqualified under Section 164(2) for non-filing of returns in another company — automatically disqualified across all directorships. A dormant subsidiary held but never disclosed in MGT-7. Pending adjudication under Section 454 for non-filing of MGT-14 on related-party transactions. An auditor who resigned mid-tenure (signalling concerns) but the resignation was filed late. Foreign investment received without FC-GPR filing — FEMA contravention waiting to surface. Each is a discount lever in M&A, a covenant breach in lender DD, or a vendor onboarding red flag.