Acme Universal Safezone 9 Limited reports 1,849-day ROC delay

Acme Universal Safezone 9 Limited disclosed corporate filing delays of up to 1,849 days and 46 late Goods and Services Tax, Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ State Insurance returns across FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26. The longest reported delay concerned Form MGT-14, filed on March 18, 2026 for an event dated January 25, 2021.

What do Acme’s ROC filing delays show?

Acme’s Registrar of Companies, or ROC, record lists 17 delayed forms from FY 2016-17 through FY 2025-26, with stated delays ranging from six days to 1,849 days. ROC filings are submissions required under the Companies Act, 2013, and Acme said it generally makes filings within prescribed periods but had delays in some instances.

The longest delay was for Form MGT-14 in FY 2025-26. The underlying event was dated January 25, 2021, the due date was February 23, 2021, and the actual filing date was March 18, 2026. Acme reported normal fees of rupees 600, additional fees of rupees 7,200 and total fees of rupees 7,800 for that filing. The next-longest listed delay was 1,371 days for Form ADT-3, filed on September 30, 2025 against a December 29, 2021 due date.

The 17 delayed entries covered several filing categories rather than one form. Seven entries concerned Form CHG-1, while the list also included two ADT filings, two AOC-4 filings, three MGT filings, two eXtensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, filings, one DPT-3 filing and one CHG-4 filing. Acme listed a 45-day delay for its FY 2019-20 XBRL filing and a 126-day delay for its FY 2024-25 XBRL filing.

Acme attributed some ROC filing delays to non-functionality of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, or MCA, system and said it paid applicable late fees on some occasions. The disclosure states that Acme had received no show-cause notice relating to the listed ROC delays as of the draft prospectus date, while noting that future penalties or regulatory action remain possible.

How repeated were Acme’s GST, PF and ESIC filing delays?

Acme listed 46 late statutory returns over FY 2023-24 through FY 2025-26: 34 Goods and Services Tax, or GST, returns, 11 Employees’ Provident Fund, or EPF, and Employees’ State Insurance, or ESIC, returns, and one tax-deducted-at-source, or TDS, return. The counts measure delayed returns disclosed for each period, rather than the value of statutory dues.

GST delays were highest in FY 2023-24, when Acme listed 16 late returns, compared with 15 in FY 2024-25 and three in FY 2025-26. The FY 2023-24 total included 11 delayed GSTR-3B returns for GSTIN 23AAOAC9432B1ZW, two delayed GSTR-3B returns for GSTIN 09AAOAC9432B1ZM, and one delayed return each for GSTR-6, GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C.

The mix changed in FY 2025-26 because GST delays fell while employee-related filing delays rose. FY 2025-26 included four delayed EPF returns and two delayed ESIC returns for Uttar Pradesh-Banther, plus one delayed EPF return for Uttar Pradesh-Jajmau. FY 2024-25 had four listed EPF and ESIC delays across Banther and Jajmau, while FY 2023-24 had one late TDS return under Section 206C in Madhya Pradesh.

Acme said delayed statutory dues and compliance filings may result in penalties, interest liabilities or regulatory scrutiny. The disclosure does not quantify penalties, interest or unpaid GST, EPF or ESIC amounts for the listed periods, so the late-return totals do not establish a monetary liability.

Were Acme’s corporate-record issues limited to late filing?

No. Acme also disclosed two errors involving Form PAS-3, the return of allotment filed with the ROC. In a historical transaction, Acme acquired the business of M/s Matrix Footcare Solution as a going concern and allotted 2,000 equity shares with a face value of rupees 100 each at par on April 1, 2018, but recorded the allotment incorrectly as being for cash in PAS-3.

A separate PAS-3 discrepancy arose because recent share transfers were not reflected in the electronic form’s list of allottees as of February 12, 2026. Acme filed a revised PAS-3 on February 20, 2026 to show the post-transfer shareholding details. Acme said the revision corrected only the allottee list and did not alter its authorised, issued, subscribed or paid-up share capital.

Acme stated that no show-cause notices or regulatory actions had been initiated in relation to the PAS-3 matter as of the draft prospectus date. The disclosure nevertheless states that authorities could commence proceedings or impose penalties in the future, and that future errors, delays or non-compliance in statutory filings could create further exposure.

What consequences and remediation has Acme disclosed?

Acme says that late statutory filings can expose it to penalties, interest liabilities, audits, investigations and potential legal action by relevant authorities. Its risk disclosure says repeated EPF payment and GST return delays could affect perceptions among employees, investors, suppliers and customers, while regulatory enquiries could divert management attention from operations.

For the 17 ROC delays, Acme says that any penalty imposed by a regulatory authority could affect its financial condition to that extent. Acme does not disclose a quantified maximum penalty for the listed forms, and it had not received a show-cause notice for those matters as of the draft prospectus date. This distinguishes the stated possibility of regulatory action from an imposed liability.

Acme’s disclosed response is to strengthen internal compliance systems to avoid recurrence. The draft prospectus does not set out an implementation timetable, a compliance-officer appointment, a software plan or a target for reducing late returns. Continued improvement therefore depends on the effectiveness of the stated systems effort and timely future filings.

Has Acme’s recent filing pattern improved?

For statutory returns, Acme’s listed late-return count declined from 19 in FY 2024-25 to 10 in FY 2025-26, and the FY 2025-26 total was also below the 17 returns listed for FY 2023-24. The decline from FY 2024-25 was driven by GST delays falling from 15 to three, even as EPF and ESIC delays increased from four to seven.

The reduction in statutory-return delays does not remove the older ROC backlog disclosed in FY 2025-26. Acme filed the MGT-14 form in March 2026 for an event dated January 2021, producing the reported 1,849-day delay. The disclosure provides no count of timely ROC filings, so the 17 delayed forms cannot be converted into an overall ROC filing-compliance rate.

Conclusion

Acme’s disclosure combines recurring late statutory returns, delayed corporate filings and errors in return-of-allotment records. The record spans FY 2016-17 to FY 2025-26, while the statutory-return data show that the composition of delays changed across the three most recent financial years rather than being confined to GST or a single location.

The next point to watch is Acme’s disclosed plan to strengthen internal compliance systems and whether subsequent GST, EPF, ESIC and ROC filings are timely. The unresolved matters are whether any regulator takes action over the historical delays and discrepancies, because Acme disclosed no show-cause notice for the listed ROC matters or the PAS-3 correction as of the draft prospectus date.