TL;DR
- Rule 12A was substituted with effect from 31 March 2026, so DIR-3 KYC is no longer an annual filing and the 30 September date no longer applies.
- A DIN holder now files Form DIR-3 KYC Web by 30 June, once every three consecutive financial years.
- Rule 12A does not name the base year, so the first date under the new cycle cannot be computed from the rule itself.
Quick Answer: The DIR-3 KYC due date is 30 June, once every three financial years rather than annually. Rule 12A, substituted from 31 March 2026, abolished the annual filing and the 30 September date. Rule 12A does not name the base year; a Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) press release of 31 December 2025 put the next filing at 30 June 2028.
The change comes from the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Amendment Rules, 2025, notified as G.S.R. 943(E) dated 31 December 2025. That instrument substitutes rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, and it came into force on 31 March 2026.
Two consequences follow for anyone holding a Director Identification Number (DIN). The annual filing has gone, and so has the 30 September date. The separate eForm and web-service routes have gone as well, replaced by a single Form No. DIR-3-KYC-Web.
Director KYC obligations under rule 12A as substituted (position as at 10 October 2026)
| Trigger | Form | Provision | Deadline or fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holding a DIN as on 31 March of a financial year | Form DIR-3 KYC Web | Rule 12A(1) | 30 June, once every three consecutive financial years |
| Change in personal mobile number, email address or residential address | Form DIR-3 KYC Web | Rule 12A(2) | Within thirty days of the change |
| Reactivation of a deactivated DIN | Form DIR-3 KYC Web | One of the six purposes printed on the substituted form | Fee of ₹5,000 under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 |
| Annual KYC and the 30 September date | e-Form DIR-3 KYC and DIR-3 KYC-WEB | Rule 12A before substitution | Superseded with effect from 31 March 2026 |
What Is the DIR-3 KYC Due Date?
The operative words of the substituted rule 12A(1) are "on or before the 30th June of the immediately following every third consecutive financial year". The month is fixed at 30 June. The frequency is once in three consecutive financial years rather than once a year.
The obligation is keyed to a snapshot. Rule 12A(1) applies to every individual who holds a DIN as on 31 March of a financial year, and that individual files Form DIR-3 KYC Web as an intimation to the Central Government.
Why Can the First Due Date Not Be Computed from Rule 12A?
Rule 12A(1) never names the base year from which the three consecutive financial years are counted. It fixes the snapshot date and it fixes the month, and then it stops. A reader holding a DIN today cannot derive their own next due date from the text of the rule alone, because two readings of the clause are each grammatically available and they differ by exactly one year.
- Counting the snapshot year inside the triennium gives financial years 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28, and a due date of 30 June 2028.
- Counting the three financial years that follow the snapshot gives 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29, and a due date of 30 June 2029.
MCA stated the earlier of the two readings in its press release of 31 December 2025, recording that directors who have completed their KYC to date are covered by the new provisions and that their next filing would be due by 30 June 2028. A press release is the Government's gloss on an instrument rather than the instrument itself, and here the instrument is silent on the base year.
When Must a Change of Mobile Number, Email or Address Be Intimated?
Within thirty days. Rule 12A(2) requires every individual holding a DIN to submit Form DIR-3 KYC Web on a change in his personal mobile number, email address or residential address, within thirty days of such change, with the fee under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014.
The thirty-day duty runs independently of the three-year cycle. A director who changes address in October does not wait for the next triennial intimation.
Who Must File DIR-3 KYC?
Every individual who holds a Director Identification Number as on 31 March of a financial year. Rule 12A(1) carries no carve-out by company type, by company size, or by whether the DIN has been used to take up an appointment.
The test is holding, not using. A DIN held on the snapshot date is inside the obligation even where the companies concerned are inactive, and a deactivated DIN is brought back through the same form.
Does the Obligation Attach to the Director or to the Company?
To the individual. Rule 12A(1) speaks of every individual who holds a Director Identification Number, so the duty sits with the DIN holder rather than with any company on whose board that person sits.
That matters for allocation inside a group. The intimation goes in against the DIN, not against each board seat the holder occupies.
Has Annual KYC Changed to a Triennial Intimation?
Yes. The annual regime was replaced with effect from 31 March 2026 by G.S.R. 943(E) of 31 December 2025, published as gazette CG-DL-E-31122025-268970. MCA records that the change followed the recommendations of the High Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms. Guidance written before that date describes the annual filing and the 30 September deadline, which is rule 12A as it stood before substitution.
What G.S.R. 943(E) changed, with effect from 31 March 2026
| Item | Position before 31 March 2026 (superseded) | Position from 31 March 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Filing frequency | Annual | Once every three consecutive financial years |
| Due date | 30 September | 30 June |
| Forms prescribed | Two: e-Form DIR-3 KYC and DIR-3 KYC-WEB | One: Form No. DIR-3-KYC-Web |
| Form title | The two form names above | "Intimation of Changes or Reactivation of DIN" |
| Governing text | Rule 12A as it stood before substitution | Rule 12A as substituted by G.S.R. 943(E) |
Which Form Replaced the eForm and the Web Service?
A single Form No. DIR-3-KYC-Web. The Annexure to G.S.R. 943(E) substitutes, for the forms "DIR-3-KYC and DIR-3-KYC-WEB", one form titled "Intimation of Changes or Reactivation of DIN". Rules 11(2) and 11(3) were conformed to refer only to that form, and the form prints six purposes:
- reactivation of DIN;
- KYC compliance;
- update of mobile number;
- update of email ID;
- update of permanent residential address;
- update of present residential address.
Digital signature by the DIN holder and professional certification are required only where the form is filed to update a mobile number, an email address or a residential address. A plain KYC intimation does not carry that requirement.
What Happens If a DIN Is Deactivated?
The MCA portal marks the number with the status "Deactivated due to non-filing of DIR-3 KYC". That string is a label the portal displays rather than the text of a rule, and it describes what the holder sees against the number on the portal.
Reactivation runs through the same form. "Reactivation of DIN" is the first of its six printed purposes, and MCA records that DINs are re-activated on that filing.
What Does Reactivation Cost?
A fee of ₹5,000 for a delayed filing under rule 12A sits in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. It is a fee and not a penalty, because the entry is headed as a fee for filing. It was inserted as item VII of the Annexure to those Rules by G.S.R. 616(E) dated 5 July 2018.
That entry still names e-Form DIR-3 KYC, the form name substituted with effect from 31 March 2026. Read the figure against the current consolidated Annexure to the Fees Rules rather than against the 2018 insertion.
How Is a Three-Year Filing Cycle Tracked Across Entities?
A three-year cycle is harder to hold than an annual one. A triennial date falls outside two compliance calendars in a row before it reappears, and the thirty-day change intimation under rule 12A(2) is event-driven rather than calendared at all.
LexComply holds both as standing obligations in a register of director-level filings carrying an owner and a due date against each DIN. The same register carries the secretarial and company-law filings that fall on the same board calendar. It also records which annual return the company itself must file.
Who Actually Makes the Filing?
The DIN holder. The intimation goes to the Central Government through the MCA portal, and the judgement on whether a reportable change has occurred stays with the individual. A platform tracks the obligation, allocates it to a named owner and holds the evidence of filing against it.
A record of that kind is also how a revision to a statutory due date and a time-bound MCA filing window get recorded against the original obligation rather than quietly replacing it. To see how a director KYC cycle would sit in that register, speak to the compliance team.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Writing the annual filing and the 30 September deadline. Both were replaced with effect from 31 March 2026, when G.S.R. 943(E) substituted rule 12A.
- Treating DIR-3 KYC and DIR-3 KYC-WEB as two separate forms. The Annexure to G.S.R. 943(E) substitutes a single Form No. DIR-3-KYC-Web for both.
- Stating 30 June 2028 as the statutory next due date. Rule 12A(1) does not name the base year. That date comes from MCA's press release of 31 December 2025, and a later statement attributed to MCA points to 2029 instead.
- Calling the ₹5,000 a penalty. The entry inserted into the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 by G.S.R. 616(E) of 5 July 2018 is headed as a fee for filing.
- Assuming a change of address can wait for the three-year cycle. Rule 12A(2) requires Form DIR-3 KYC Web within thirty days of the change.
- Citing the portal status "Deactivated due to non-filing of DIR-3 KYC" as rule text. It is a portal label, not a provision of the Rules.
Legal Disclaimer
This article states the position on director KYC under rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014 as at the date shown above, and it is general information rather than legal advice. Where the substituted rule is silent, as it is on the base year of the cycle, obtain professional advice before fixing a date for a particular DIN holder.
