DIR-3 KYC in Chennai

What is DIR-3 KYC?

DIR-3 KYC is the KYC intimation filed under Rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014 by an individual who holds a DIN. Filing it confirms to MCA that the person behind the DIN is real, contactable, and that the register entry against their name is accurate.

It exists because the DIN is a permanent number used across every company a person serves. Without a periodic refresh, the register accumulates directors with dead phone numbers, old addresses, and names that no longer match PAN — which makes service of statutory notices impossible and makes shell-company enforcement harder.

The obligation attaches to the person, not the company. A director of five companies files once. A person who holds a DIN but currently sits on no board still files, because the DIN remains allotted until it is formally surrendered. Anyone who has obtained a DIN through company registration or a later appointment of director is inside this net.

What changed in DIR-3 KYC from 31 March 2026?

Until FY 2025-26 the filing was annual, due each 30 September. The Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Amendment Rules, 2025 — notified 31 December 2025 and effective from 31 March 2026 — replaced that with a three-year cycle. A person holding a DIN as on 31 March of a financial year now files the KYC form once every third consecutive financial year, on or before 30 June.

MCA also consolidated the forms. The separate full e-form and the web-based confirmation were substituted by a single simpler KYC form used for four purposes: periodic KYC compliance, updating a mobile number, updating an email address or residential address, and reactivating a deactivated DIN. Form nomenclature on the V3 portal has been changing through this transition, so confirm the exact form label on the portal at the time of filing.

Per MCA and ICAI communications on the amendment, directors who had completed their KYC up to the changeover were rolled onto the new cycle with a next due date of 30 June 2028. The amendment did not forgive past defaults — a DIN already deactivated for a missed KYC still has to be cleared by filing with the prescribed fee. That is a DIN reactivation job, not a routine filing.

Who has to file DIR-3 KYC?

• Every individual holding a DIN as on 31 March of the relevant financial year
• Directors of private limited, public limited, One Person Company, Section 8, Nidhi, and producer companies
• Designated partners of an LLP who hold a DIN (DPIN is issued as a DIN)
• Directors of a dormant company and of companies with no business activity
• Directors of a company whose annual filings are in arrears
• Foreign nationals and NRIs holding an Indian DIN
• People who hold a DIN but are not currently on any board
• Directors who resigned during the year but whose DIN remains allotted

A DIN that has been formally surrendered or cancelled through the prescribed process is outside the obligation. Simply stepping off a board through a resignation of director does not end it — the DIN survives the resignation.

When is DIR-3 KYC due?

The cut-off under the amended rule is 30 June of the financial year in which your turn falls. The cycle is anchored to the year the DIN was allotted, counted in consecutive financial years.

Cycle dates are individual, so two co-founders appointed in different years can fall due in different years. We maintain the due date per DIN rather than per company, because a single missed director KYC is enough to freeze a company’s filings.

What details and documents are required for DIR-3 KYC?

• DIN in active status (or the specific deactivation remark, if it is not)
• Name and date of birth exactly as they appear on PAN
• PAN, which is verified against the income-tax database in the form
• Aadhaar, where the director is an Indian citizen
• Passport — mandatory for foreign nationals, and required for NRIs
• Personal mobile number that can receive the OTP, with country code
• Personal email address that can receive the OTP
• Present residential address with supporting proof
• Permanent residential address where it differs from the present one
• A valid, unexpired Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate — see digital signature certificate
• Professional certification by a practising CA, CS, or CMA where the full form is used

Two constraints trip people up. The mobile and email must be personal and unique to the director — a shared company address or the consultant’s number will not pass, because the same contact cannot be used for two DINs. And the name has to match PAN character for character; an expanded initial or a post-marriage surname that was never updated on PAN causes a validation failure rather than a resubmission.

How to file DIR-3 KYC online?

1. 1.Check the DIN status and current details on the MCA portal before touching the form
2. 2.Confirm the name and date of birth against PAN and correct PAN first if they differ
3. 3.Confirm the DSC is valid, unexpired, and registered against the DIN holder on the portal
4. 4.Log in to MCA V3 and open the director KYC form under DIN services
5. 5.Enter the DIN — existing particulars are pre-filled from the register
6. 6.Enter or confirm PAN, Aadhaar, passport where applicable, mobile, email, and addresses
7. 7.Generate and enter the OTP sent separately to the mobile number and the email address
8. 8.Attach address proof and identity documents in the prescribed format
9. 9.Have the practising professional certify the form where the version in use requires it
10. 10.Affix the DSC of the director, and of the certifying professional where applicable
11. 11.Submit, pay where a fee is payable, and save the SRN and challan
12. 12.Verify on the portal that the DIN status remains or becomes Approved

The OTP is the real gate. It is sent to the director’s own mobile and email and is valid for a short window, so the director has to be reachable at the moment of filing — this is not a form a consultant can complete unattended.

How much does DIR-3 KYC cost?

MCA notified a dedicated fee schedule for the KYC web filing by amending the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 in April 2026. Filing inside the Rule 12A timeline is free; everything else carries a flat charge rather than a day-count multiplier.

These are the figures notified in 2026 and are indicative — fee rules are amended without much notice, so we confirm the exact amount on the portal before you pay. Note the structure: the late charge is flat, so a KYC missed by one week and one missed by three years cost the same. There is no benefit to delaying once you are late, and no waiver route.

What happens if a director misses DIR-3 KYC?

MCA marks the DIN as deactivated with the remark "Deactivated due to non-filing of DIR-3 KYC". The DIN is not cancelled and the person does not stop being a director — but the number is frozen, and that is enough to stop work.

• The director cannot authenticate or sign any MCA e-form
• Annual filings needing that director’s signature cannot be submitted, so the company starts accruing its own additional fee
• The director cannot be appointed to a new board
• Charge filings, allotment returns, and auditor filings that depend on the DIN stall
• Investor and lender diligence picks the status up immediately, because DIN status is public
• A pending funding round, share allotment, or bank sanction can be held up by one frozen DIN

The real cost is almost never the ₹5,000. It is the cascade — a company whose annual filing slips because a director’s DIN was frozen pays a daily additional fee on its own forms, and three consecutive years of that default triggers director disqualification under section 164(2), which is a far harder problem than a KYC.

How do you update a mobile number, email, or address on your DIN?

Under the amended Rule 12A, any change in a director’s mobile number, email ID, or residential address must be reported within 30 days of the change through the KYC form, with the prescribed fee. This is a separate obligation from the three-year periodic filing.

This matters more than it sounds. The registered mobile and email are where MCA sends OTPs and statutory intimations. A director who changes phone number and does not update it will find the next KYC or e-form OTP undeliverable, and will discover the problem on the day of a time-sensitive filing.

Where the change is to a name or date of birth rather than contact details, the correction route is different — PAN is corrected first, then the DIN particulars are amended through the change form for DIN details, because the KYC form validates against PAN and will not accept a mismatch.

What is the checklist before filing DIR-3 KYC?

1. 1.Confirm the DIN status and note any deactivation remark
2. 2.Work out which financial year the three-year cycle lands in for that DIN
3. 3.Match name and date of birth to PAN and fix PAN first if they differ
4. 4.Confirm the mobile and email are personal, active, and not already used for another DIN
5. 5.Keep the phone and inbox accessible during the filing window for the OTP
6. 6.Check the DSC expiry date and renew before starting if it is close
7. 7.Collect current address proof in the accepted format
8. 8.For foreign directors, arrange a notarised or apostilled passport and address proof
9. 9.File before 30 June in the applicable year so the fee stays nil
10. 10.Save the SRN, challan, and filed copy for your records
11. 11.Re-check the portal a day or two later to confirm the status is Approved

Why do DIR-3 KYC filings fail or get rejected?

• Name or date of birth does not match the PAN database exactly
• The mobile number or email is already registered against a different DIN
• OTP expired before it was entered, or reached a number the director no longer uses
• DSC expired, revoked, or not registered against the DIN holder on the portal
• Address proof is stale, illegible, or in a name other than the director’s
• Foreign-national documents filed without notarisation or apostille
• Aadhaar left blank for an Indian citizen where the form requires it
• The wrong purpose selected — periodic KYC where a change or reactivation was intended

Most of these are validation failures caught at submission rather than a rejection weeks later, which is good news — they are cheap to fix if you are not filing on the last day.

Whose responsibility is DIR-3 KYC — the director or the company?

Legally the director’s. The filing is personal, the OTP goes to the director’s own contacts, and the consequence lands on the director’s DIN. A company cannot file it on a director’s behalf without their participation.

Practically, the company bears the damage. The board is the only party with visibility over all its directors’ cycles, and a frozen DIN is a company problem the moment a filing is due. Sensible practice is for the company secretary or the CA firm to hold a register of DINs with their next due dates and chase the directors — including the non-executive and investor nominees who are the most common defaulters.

If your company is carrying a filing backlog alongside a KYC problem, sequence the work: clear the director KYC first so the DIN can sign, then deal with the arrears — see CCFS scheme company compliance for how backlog regularisation is priced.

How does DIR-3 KYC fit into the annual compliance calendar?

Director KYC used to be a fixed September entry on every company’s calendar. Under the three-year cycle it becomes a per-person diary item, which is easier to forget precisely because it is no longer annual and no longer common to the whole board.

• Maintain a DIN register with each director’s allotment year and next KYC year
• Set a reminder for 1 May of the due year, leaving room before 30 June
• Re-check DIN status before any time-critical filing — allotment, charge, or annual return
• Renew DSCs on a schedule rather than on the day a form is due
• Update contact details within 30 days of a change so OTPs keep arriving
• Track it alongside company annual filing, ADT-1, and DPT-3

Why choose Arjun Filings for DIR-3 KYC?

Arjun Filings runs DIR-3 KYC as a checklist-first engagement: a qualified CA or CS scopes the work, tells you exactly which documents are needed, and reviews every form before it is signed and submitted. You get a named specialist, a status update at each stage, and a compliance calendar for whatever comes next.

• Specialist support for DIR-3 KYC
• Due-date calendar and penalty awareness
• Form review before DSC signing
• Status updates until acknowledgement