DIR-3 KYC: A Complete Guide to MCA Filing, Due Dates and the 2026 Rule Change
DIR-3 KYC is the identity confirmation every Director Identification Number holder in India files
with the MCA, and from 31 March 2026 it stopped being an annual requirement - directors now file
it once every three financial years unless their mobile, email or address
changes in between. Miss your window either way and MCA deactivates the DIN automatically, with a
flat ₹5,000 reactivation fee that applies regardless of how late you are.
Filed via
Form DIR-3 KYC-Web
Filing Cycle (from 31 March 2026)
Once in 3 Financial Years
Reactivation Fee
Flat ₹5,000 per DIN
Key takeaways
DIR-3 KYC confirms a DIN holder's identity with MCA - name, PAN, Aadhaar, address, mobile and email - under Rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014.
The filing cycle changed from annual to triennial effective 31 March 2026, under the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Amendment Rules, 2025 (notified as G.S.R. 943(E) on 31 December 2025). Directors who filed for FY 2024-25 don't file again until 30 June 2028.
Two older forms merged into one. The separate e-Form DIR-3 KYC and the lighter DIR-3 KYC-Web are now a single unified Form DIR-3 KYC-Web - but DSC and professional certification still apply whenever you're filing for the first time, updating your details, or reactivating a deactivated DIN.
A mobile, email or address change still has its own 30-day clock, independent of the three-year cycle - miss that and you're in default even if your triennial date is years away.
Late filing costs a flat ₹5,000 per DIN, with no sliding scale, and the DIN stays deactivated - blocking every MCA filing that needs that director's digital signature - until it's paid and processed.
What DIR-3 KYC Actually Is and Who Must File
Anyone allotted a Director Identification Number has to periodically confirm their personal
details with the MCA through DIR-3 KYC - this includes name, date of birth, father's name, PAN,
Aadhaar, residential address, a personal mobile number and a personal email. The legal basis sits
in Rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, read
together with Sections 153 and 154 of the Companies Act, 2013, which respectively govern DIN
allotment and give MCA the power to deactivate a non-compliant DIN.
The obligation attaches to the DIN itself, not to whether you're currently serving as a director.
That means it applies to:
Directors currently serving on private, public, OPC, Section 8, or government company boards.
LLP designated partners who hold a DIN (legacy DPINs were unified into the DIN system back in 2011).
Directors who resigned but never formally surrendered their DIN.
Directors disqualified under Section 164, since disqualification doesn't cancel the DIN.
Directors of companies that were struck off under Section 248.
Foreign nationals holding an Indian DIN, resident or not.
The only way out of the recurring obligation is to formally surrender the DIN through Form DIR-5,
or to have MCA cancel it under Section 154. Short of that, every status - Approved, Deactivated,
even Disqualified - still carries the filing requirement.
The Big Change: DIR-3 KYC Is No Longer Annual
For years, every DIN holder filed this by 30 September, every single year, without exception.
That changed with the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Amendment Rules,
2025, which the government notified as G.S.R. 943(E) on 31 December 2025 and brought into force
from 31 March 2026. Rule 12A was substituted in full, and the headline shift is straightforward:
routine KYC now happens once every three financial years, with the new deadline set at 30 June of
the third financial year following your last filing, not 30 September annually.
A director who completed their KYC for FY 2024-25 doesn't need to file again on a routine basis
until 30 June 2028. Anyone filing their first-ever KYC in FY 2025-26 lands on a 30 June 2029
cycle.
What Hasn't Changed
Three things survived the amendment untouched, and they matter more than the headline:
The ₹5,000 penalty for late or deactivated filings stays exactly the same.
Reactivating a deactivated DIN still requires the full e-Form, not the simplified web route, complete with DSC and professional certification.
Any change to your mobile number, email address, or residential address must still be reported within 30 days of the change - regardless of where you stand in the three-year cycle.
That last
point is the one catching people out. A director who switched phone numbers eight months ago and
didn't update MCA within 30 days is technically in default right now, even though their next
routine triennial date might be two years away. The three-year gap doesn't pause your obligation
to keep MCA's contact records current.
Documents Required for DIR-3 KYC
What you need depends entirely on which track you're on.
For the OTP-only routine web confirmation (repeat filer, nothing changed)
Access to the Aadhaar-linked mobile number already on your MCA record.
Access to the personal email already on your MCA record.
For the full e-Form (first-time filing, a detail change, or reactivation)
A valid Class 3 DSC, linked to the same PAN entered on the form.
Self-attested PAN card copy.
Self-attested Aadhaar card copy for Indian nationals, or a valid passport for foreign nationals.
Current residential address proof, generally not older than two months.
The certifying professional's DSC, Membership Number, and Certificate of Practice number.
One detail
worth flagging for anyone using a shared professional or firm email as their registered contact:
MCA expects the mobile number and email tied to each DIN to be unique to that individual. A
shared address across two DINs will cause the OTP step to fail.
How to File DIR-3 KYC Online: The OTP Verification Process
For the routine web filing, the process is genuinely quick:
1
Log in to the MCA V3 portal
Go to MCA Services → DIN Services → DIR-3 KYC-Web.
2
Enter your DIN
Your name, PAN, and contact details pull through from MCA's existing record.
3
Request an OTP
It is sent separately to your Aadhaar-linked mobile and your registered email.
4
Enter both OTPs
These are time-limited, so have both devices accessible before you start.
5
Submit
On successful verification, your KYC status updates and no payment is required if you're filing within your window.
For the full e-Form route - first-time filers, anyone updating details, or anyone reactivating a
deactivated DIN - the process adds DSC application by both the director and the certifying
professional, document upload, and, where applicable, the ₹5,000 fee payment. MCA generates a
Service Request Number (SRN) on submission, and payment needs to be completed within seven days of
that SRN being generated, or the submission lapses and has to be re-filed from scratch.
DIR-3 KYC Due Date: The 30 September Rule and What Replaced It
If you've been filing DIR-3 KYC for a few years, 30 September is probably burned into memory -
that was the fixed annual deadline under the old rules, and it's still the reference point most
compliance calendars and reminder tools use when discussing the historical filing cycle. Under
the triennial system now in force, that fixed annual date no longer governs routine filings; the
relevant date is 30 June of your third year in the cycle instead.
Where 30 September still matters is for the event-based 30-day update window and for anyone
catching up on a deactivated DIN from the old annual system - those obligations run on their own
clocks, not the new triennial calendar. If you're unsure which deadline actually applies to your
DIN, the safest move is to check your filing history and current status directly on the MCA
portal rather than assume based on last year's date.
Penalty for Late Filing of DIR-3 KYC
Filing on time costs nothing. Filing late, or letting your DIN sit deactivated, triggers a flat
₹5,000 reactivation fee - this doesn't scale with how many days you've missed, and it isn't
waivable on any ground under the current rules.
The moment the deadline passes without a filing, MCA's system automatically marks the DIN
"Deactivated due to non-filing of DIR-3 KYC." From that point, the director cannot authenticate
any e-form on the MCA V3 portal using their DSC - which means Form AOC-4, Form MGT-7 or MGT-7A,
Form PAS-3 for share allotments, and Form DIR-12 for director changes all get blocked if that
director's signature is required. For a company with just one or two directors, or an OPC where
the sole director is the only signatory, this can freeze every filing the company needs to make
until the DIN is reactivated.
Separate exposure under Section 159
There's also a separate, less-discussed exposure under Section 159 of the Companies Act, which
allows for a penalty of up to ₹50,000 plus ₹500 per day of continuing default related to
DIN-linked obligations under Sections 152, 155 and 156. In practice, MCA has relied on automated
deactivation and the ₹5,000 fee as its main enforcement tool, with Section 159 adjudication
reserved for cases where a DIN default is part of a larger governance lapse the Registrar is
already examining under Section 454. Paying the ₹5,000 fee clears the administrative default; it
doesn't foreclose separate action under Section 159 in those aggravated cases.
How to Check DIN KYC Status on the MCA Portal
Before assuming you're compliant, verify it directly rather than relying on memory of when you
last filed:
1
Look up DIN status
Go to the MCA portal and look up DIN status under MCA Services.
2
Enter the DIN
The status will show as Approved, Deactivated, or Disqualified.
3
Read the reason if Deactivated
"Non-filing of KYC in DIR-3-KYC" confirms this is a KYC default rather than a disqualification issue, which would need a different fix entirely.
4
Cross-check your last filing date
Compare it against the current three-year cycle to confirm whether you're actually due, rather than assuming based on the old annual pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. For routine filings with no change in personal details, it's now once every three financial years, due 30 June of the third year following your last filing - this took effect from 31 March 2026.
You still have to file the update through DIR-3 KYC-Web within 30 days of the change. This obligation runs independently of your three-year cycle.
No. The MCA portal doesn't offer the web route for a deactivated DIN - reactivation requires the full e-Form with DSC and professional certification, along with the ₹5,000 fee.
No. It's a fixed government fee with no provision for waiver or part-payment under the current rules.
No. The deactivation blocks MCA e-form authentication by that director; it doesn't affect the validity of board meetings, resolutions, or that director's vote at the time they were recorded.
Yes, as long as the DIN itself is still allotted (Approved or Deactivated status). Resigning from a board doesn't cancel a DIN - only a DIR-5 surrender or MCA cancellation under Section 154 does.
Yes. Anyone holding a DIN, including LLP designated partners, is subject to the same obligation - and a deactivated DIN can block LLP Form 11 and Form 8 filings the same way it blocks company filings.