A Missed CSR-2 Filing Cost This Company ₹3 Lakh — Even Though the Details Were Already Disclosed

A Missed CSR-2 Filing Cost This Company ₹3 Lakh — Even Though the Details Were Already Disclosed

Here’s a compliance mistake that’s easier to make than you’d think: assuming that if you’ve already disclosed your CSR spending in one form, you don’t need to file another one saying the same thing.

That assumption just cost Khemka Refractories Private Limited, a Dhenkanal-based manufacturer registered under ROC Cuttack, a ₹3,00,000 penalty — split between the company and two of its officers.

What actually happened

Khemka Refractories was required to file Form CSR-2 — the annual CSR report companies must submit under Rule 12(1B) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 — for the financial year 2020-21. The due date for that filing was 30 June 2022.

The company didn’t file it. Not that month, not that year. It finally got filed on 27 May 2026 — almost four years after it was due.

Once that surfaced, ROC Cuttack opened adjudication proceedings under Section 454 of the Companies Act, 2013, and the case moved forward from there.

“But we already disclosed it in AOC-4”

This was the heart of the company’s defense, and it’s worth sitting with, because it’s a genuinely common belief among compliance teams.

Khemka Refractories argued that:

• Its CSR spending details were already disclosed through Form AOC-4.
• Not filing CSR-2 separately was an honest oversight, not a deliberate dodge.
• The delay coincided with the COVID period, which disrupted a lot of routine compliance work.
• There was no intent to avoid the law — just a slip that happened during a genuinely difficult stretch.

It’s a sympathetic story. Companies really were juggling a lot during those years, and “we told you the same thing somewhere else” feels like it should count for something.

Why the ROC didn’t buy it

It didn’t, though — and the reasoning is worth remembering because it applies well beyond this one case.

The Adjudicating Officer held that Form CSR-2 is its own, independent filing obligation — not a duplicate of what’s already in AOC-4, and not something that gets automatically satisfied just because the same numbers appear elsewhere. Filing AOC-4 doesn’t buy you an exemption from also filing CSR-2. And critically, the ROC pointed out that the violation didn’t disappear just because the company eventually filed the form — the default had already run its course from the due date all the way to the actual filing date, and that gap is what the penalty is measured against.

In other words: fixing it late is better than never fixing it, but it doesn’t erase the years you spent not fixing it.

Who ended up paying, and how much

Notice that the penalty didn’t stop at the company’s door. Two of its officers were personally penalized too — a reminder that “the company will handle it” isn’t a shield for the individuals actually responsible for compliance.

What this case actually teaches

CSR-2 doesn’t ride on the coattails of AOC-4. Even though it’s filed as a follow-on to AOC-4 on the MCA portal, it’s a distinct legal requirement in its own right. Treating it as an afterthought — something that’s “basically already covered” — is exactly the assumption that got Khemka Refractories into trouble.

Time doesn’t heal a compliance default — it just adds to the bill. The company did eventually file the form. It didn’t matter. The penalty was calculated based on how long the default lasted, not on the fact that it was eventually corrected.

Officers carry personal exposure. If you’re a director or officer responsible for statutory filings, this case is a direct reminder that penalties can land on you individually, not just on the company’s balance sheet.

A messy compliance calendar is how this happens. Between AOC-4, MGT-7, DPT-3, MSME-1, PAS-6, BEN-2, and CSR-2, it’s genuinely easy for one filing to slip through the cracks — especially one that many people (wrongly) assume is optional or redundant. A proper tracking system, reviewed regularly, is the difference between catching this in month one and discovering it four years later.

The bigger picture

This isn’t really a story about one refractories manufacturer in Odisha. It’s a story about how compliance teams everywhere quietly convince themselves that “we’ve disclosed this elsewhere” is good enough — until an adjudicating officer disagrees, and the bill lands on both the company and the people who run it.

If your company falls under CSR applicability and you’re not entirely sure CSR-2 has been filed for every relevant year, this is a good week to check.