Companies Act 1956 Forms
Old Records, Legacy Filings & Their Modern Equivalents
Form 1 for incorporation, Form 18 for the registered office, Form 32 for directors, Form 20B for the annual return, Form 23AC for the balance sheet — understanding the old record, mapping it to the current framework, and putting right what was never filed.
Overview
What Are Companies Act 1956 Forms?
Under the Companies Act, 1956, every company had to report its key events and yearly position to the Registrar of Companies through prescribed numbered forms. Incorporation, a change of registered office, the appointment or resignation of a director, an allotment of shares, an increase in capital, the creation or satisfaction of a charge, a special resolution, the annual return, and the balance sheet — each had its own numbered form. Together, these filings built the public record of the company.
The Companies Act, 2013 replaced the old numbered forms with the current named e-forms — INC, DIR, PAS, SH, CHG, MGT, AOC, and the rest. New filings are made under the 2013 Act. What did not change is that everything filed under the old Act remains on the record, and anything left undone under the old Act generally remains undone until it is put right through the corresponding current form.
N D Savla & Associates is a firm of Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries in Mumbai that reviews and retrieves historical RoC records, maps old filings against the current position, and regularises legacy defaults under the company compliance framework as it stands today.
Form Mapping
The Main 1956 Forms & What Replaced Them
Most old forms have a direct successor under the Companies Act, 2013. Knowing the pairing is the quickest way to read an old record and work out what to file today for something left pending:
| 1956 Act Form | What It Was For | Equivalent Under the 2013 Act |
|---|---|---|
| Form 1A | Application for availability of a name | RUN, now SPICe+ Part A |
| Form 1 | Declaration of compliance on incorporation | SPICe+, with the INC-9 declaration |
| Form 18 | Notice of the situation or change of registered office | INC-22 |
| Form 32 | Particulars of appointment or change of directors | DIR-12 |
| Form 2 | Return of allotment of shares | PAS-3 |
| Form 5 | Notice of increase in authorised share capital | SH-7 |
| Form 8 | Creation or modification of a charge | CHG-1 |
| Form 17 | Satisfaction of a charge | CHG-4 |
| Form 23 | Registration of resolutions and agreements | MGT-14 |
| Form 20B / 21A | Annual return of the company | MGT-7 |
| Form 23AC / 23ACA | Balance sheet and profit and loss account | AOC-4 |
| Form 23B | Auditor's intimation of appointment | ADT-1 |
| Form 66 | Compliance certificate | Not carried forward under the 2013 Act |
Why It Still Matters
When Do Old ROC Forms Become a Live Problem?
For any company incorporated before 2014, the old forms are not a curiosity — they are the foundation of its record. Here are the situations where that history surfaces as a present-day issue:
Due Diligence in a Transaction
An investor, acquirer, or lender examining a pre-2014 company reads its history through Form 32, Form 23, and Form 8. Any gap in that trail — an unrecorded director change, an unregistered resolution, an open charge — becomes a diligence blocker that has to be fixed before the deal closes.
Open Old Charges on the Record
A charge created under old Form 8 still shows against the company until its satisfaction is filed — even if the loan was repaid years ago. An open charge surfaces the moment a buyer, investor, or bank runs a search. This is the single most common legacy problem encountered in pre-2014 company records.
Director Trail Gaps
Who was on the board, and when, is established by the Form 32 trail — which matters for liability, disqualification checks, and verification. A director who resigned without Form 32 being filed still appears on the MCA record, creating confusion and complications years after they left.
Pending Old Annual Returns
An annual return or balance sheet that was never filed for an old year remains outstanding — and continues to be a default. The three-year continuous default for director disqualification can run through old filings as well as new ones. Clearing the backlog is the first step before any regularisation.
Restoration of a Struck-Off Company
A company struck off for old defaults can only be restored by making good the filings behind them. The restoration process through the NCLT under Section 252 requires identifying and filing every outstanding return, and understanding the 1956 Act forms is essential for reconstructing what was owed.
Bank Funding & CIBIL Charge Searches
Banks run charge searches before sanctioning loans. An old Form 8 that was never satisfied in Form 17 shows as a live encumbrance on the company's assets, potentially blocking or delaying new lending until the record is cleared through CHG-4 and condonation.
The Fix Today
How Legacy Matters Are Handled Under the 2013 Act
The old forms are no longer filed. A legacy gap is put right through the current form that corresponds to it, and where the delay is long, through the relief the Companies Act, 2013 provides:
| Legacy Situation | How It Is Handled Today |
|---|---|
| Old-year annual return or accounts never filed | Filed through the current form applicable to that year, with additional fees |
| A pre-2014 charge still showing as open | Satisfaction filed in CHG-4, with condonation in CHG-8 where the time limit has passed |
| A director change never reported | Record reconciled and the change filed in DIR-12 |
| A resolution never registered | Filed in MGT-14, with condonation of delay under Section 460 where required |
| The company has been struck off | Restoration through the NCLT under Section 252, then pending filings completed |
| A long-standing default | Compounding of the offence under Section 441, with the default made good |
Our Services
How We Help With Companies Act 1956 Matters
We deal with the whole legacy stack — from reading the old record to closing out the defaults behind it:
Historical Record Retrieval
MCA21 portal — public document retrieval
Record Reconciliation
Legacy-to-Current Form Mapping
Filing & Regularisation
Section 460 condonation; CHG-8 for charge delays
Compounding & NCLT Restoration
Companies Act 2013 – Section 252 (NCLT), Section 441 (Compounding)
Clean Record Going Forward
Related Services
Our Related Company Compliance & Records Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Common Questions on Companies Act 1956 Forms
What are Companies Act 1956 forms?
Are Companies Act 1956 forms still filed today?
What was Form 32 used for and what replaced it?
What was Form 18 used for?
What replaced Form 20B and Form 23AC?
Why do old ROC forms still matter?
What happens to an old filing that was never made?
An old charge on our company was repaid but still shows as open. What can be done?
Sort out your company's old records with N D Savla & Associates.
Historical RoC records retrieved, old charges cleared, director trails corrected, and legacy defaults regularised — so the public record finally matches reality.
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