Fly-Hi disclosed recurring GST, TDS and EPF payment delays

Fly-Hi Maritime Travels Limited disclosed repeated delays in Goods and Services Tax (GST), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) compliance across financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26. The longest listed delay was 102 days on a Rs 1.63 lakh EPF contribution for July 2025, paid on November 25, 2025.

Why did Fly-Hi disclose recurring GST, TDS and payroll delays?

Fly-Hi disclosed that the lapses extended to both statutory-return filings and deposits of statutory dues, rather than being confined to corporate-record filings. The company listed delayed GST returns, TDS and Tax Collected at Source (TCS) returns, deposits of deducted TDS, EPF contributions and ESIC contributions for the three financial years ended March 31, 2024, March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2026.

GST is an indirect tax, TDS is tax deducted before specified payments, TCS is tax collected at source, EPF is an employee provident-fund contribution, and ESIC is an employee-insurance contribution. Fly-Hi said delays had required it to pay late-filing fees, interest on delayed deposits of taxes and statutory dues, and late-filing penalties; it added that accumulated amounts from repeated delays could affect cash flows.

Fly-Hi did not quantify the fees, interest or penalties paid in its GST, TDS, EPF and ESIC tables. The company said no action had been initiated against it thus far, while also stating that future delays could potentially bring interest, penalties, proceedings, litigation and administrative burdens under applicable provisions. The disclosure therefore identifies recurring compliance events and possible consequences, rather than a regulatory action already initiated as of the prospectus date.

How did Fly-Hi’s GST and TDS delays change over three years?

Fly-Hi reported GST and TDS filing delays in Maharashtra in every financial year from 2023-24 through 2025-26, although the reported days of delay were lower for the GST entries in 2025-26. In 2023-24, the company listed two delayed GSTR-1 returns with 45 days delayed and two delayed GSTR-3B returns with 88 days delayed.

In 2024-25, Fly-Hi listed three delayed GSTR-1 instances with 73 days delayed and three GSTR-3B instances with 55 days delayed. The 2025-26 record listed two delayed GSTR-1 instances with three days delayed and one delayed GSTR-3B instance with 14 days delayed. The disclosed pattern therefore changed from six GST instances in 2024-25 to three in 2025-26, but did not eliminate delayed filings.

TDS delays also appeared in all three years. Fly-Hi listed one delayed Form 26Q instance in each year, with reported delayed days declining from 53 in 2023-24 to 46 in 2024-25 and 26 in 2025-26. Form 24Q entries increased from one instance with 36 days delayed in 2023-24 to two instances with 66 days delayed in 2024-25, before remaining at two instances with 37 days delayed in 2025-26.

The GST and TDS tables identify Maharashtra but do not specify the underlying return periods, the value of GST or TDS involved, or the late fees and interest paid. The figures consequently quantify the reported number of late instances and delayed days, but not the total cash cost of the GST and TDS lapses.

What do Fly-Hi’s EPF payment records show?

Fly-Hi listed 16 delayed EPF contributions from May 2024 through March 2026, with individual reported delays ranging from three days to 102 days. The July 2025 EPF contribution of Rs 1.63 lakh was due on August 15, 2025 and recorded as paid on November 25, 2025, resulting in the 102-day delay.

The EPF record shows several delayed contributions during 2025 and 2026. The August 2025 contribution of Rs 1.60 lakh was paid 71 days late, while the September 2025 contribution of Rs 1.57 lakh was paid 41 days late; both were paid on November 25, 2025. Fly-Hi also listed a 71-day delay for the Rs 1.60 lakh February 2026 EPF contribution and a 45-day delay for the Rs 1.57 lakh March 2026 contribution.

The reported 102-day EPF delay exceeded the 88 delayed days listed for GSTR-3B in 2023-24 and the 66 delayed days listed for Form 24Q in 2024-25. The difference reflects the separate nature of the disclosures: GST and TDS tables report filing instances, whereas the EPF table records monthly contribution amounts, due dates and actual payment dates.

What does Fly-Hi’s ESIC record add to the compliance pattern?

Fly-Hi listed 15 delayed ESIC contributions from May 2024 through March 2026, including a 58-day delay for the March 2026 contribution of Rs 11,410. That contribution was due on April 15, 2026 and was recorded as paid on June 12, 2026.

Earlier ESIC entries included a 52-day delay for the May 2024 contribution of Rs 2,968 and a 40-day delay for the September 2025 contribution of Rs 3,984. The ESIC record also listed 27 delayed days for the July 2025 contribution of Rs 3,984 and 26 delayed days for the October 2024 contribution of Rs 4,702.

One ESIC entry is chronologically inconsistent as printed in the prospectus. For the October 2025 contribution of Rs 3,064, Fly-Hi listed a due date of November 15, 2025, an actual payment date of January 24, 2025 and a delay of nine days. The stated actual payment date precedes the stated due date, and the supplied disclosure does not explain the discrepancy.

How concentrated were Fly-Hi’s delayed payroll payments?

Fly-Hi’s payroll tables contain 31 listed delayed payments, comprising 16 EPF contributions and 15 ESIC contributions, for periods from May 2024 to March 2026. Unlike the GST and TDS disclosures, these tables give amounts, due dates, actual payment dates and individual days of delay for each entry.

The disclosed EPF amounts were larger than the disclosed ESIC amounts. The July 2025 EPF payment of Rs 1.63 lakh, which had the 102-day delay, was more than 14 times the Rs 11,410 March 2026 ESIC contribution, which had the longest ESIC delay of 58 days. The two contribution types remain separately recorded statutory obligations, with their own due dates and payment entries.

The persistence of the issue depends on timely return filing and remittance of taxes and employee-related contributions. Fly-Hi stated that it had delayed GST, TDS and TCS returns and EPF and ESIC payments in the past, but the supplied disclosure does not identify a separate automated system, external provider or quantified corrective programme for these tax and payroll processes.

Conclusion

Fly-Hi’s prospectus describes a compliance pattern spanning GST and TDS filings as well as 31 listed delayed EPF and ESIC payments. GST and TDS delays continued through 2025-26 in Maharashtra, while the July 2025 EPF contribution of Rs 1.63 lakh, paid 102 days late, was the longest reported delay in the disclosed tax and employee-benefit records.

What to watch next is whether Fly-Hi avoids further late filings and payments, and whether any authority takes action, because the company said no action had been initiated thus far but identified potential interest, penalties and proceedings. The company said repeated delays could accumulate and affect cash flows, while the supplied disclosure does not set out a distinct remediation plan for GST, TDS, EPF or ESIC compliance.