It has been noticed by the Government that a large number of LLPs have failed/defaulted in filing Form-3 LLP [LLP Agreement and changes therein]; Form-4 [Notice of Appointment, cessation, change in name/ address/ designation of Designated Partner or Partner]; Form-8 [Statement of Account & Solvency (Annual or Interim)] and Form-11 [Annual Return of LLP] and in the event of such defaults an additional fee of INR 100/- (Rupees One Hundred Only) is levied under the LLP Act, for every day of such delay.

Due to such hefty fine involved in case of default in filing of e-forms mentioned above by the LLPs, many representations have been made from various quarters for waiver of fees or relaxation in additional fees.

As a part of ease of doing business and to give an onetime relaxation in additional fees to the defaulting LLPs to make good their default by filing pending documents and to serve as a compliant LLP in future the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, vide circular dated 4th March, 2020 have introduced a scheme - ‘LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020’ (“Scheme”), for allowing an onetime condonation of delay in filing the e-forms mentioned above which have not been filed by the LLPs with the Registrar.

• The Scheme shall come into force on 16^th March 2020 and shall remain in force till 13^th June 2020.
• The Scheme shall apply only for the filing belated Form 3, Form 4, Form 8 and Form 11 which were due for filing till 31^st October 2019. (The Scheme shall not apply to LLPs who have filed Form 24 with the Registrar for striking-off its name from the ROC.)
• Reduced additional fee: The defaulting LLPs can file the said e-forms during the currency of this Scheme by making payment of an additional fee of INR 10/- per day (as against INR 100/- per day) for the delay in filing in addition to normal fee applicable for filing of suche-forms, however, the maximum additional fee shall not exceed INR 5000/- (Rupees Five Thousand Only) per e-form.
• The defaulting LLPs availing benefit of this Scheme shall be provided with immunity from prosecution by the Registrar for such defaults.
• Further, after completing of this Scheme, those LLPs which have not availed this Scheme and are in default of filing any of the e-forms within the specified period as per the LLP Act shall be subject to action/prosecution from the Registrar under the LLP Act

MCA vide its General Circular No. 13/2020 dated 30th March, 2020, has revised the existing LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 and thereby the last date of filing of pending documents has changed from 13th June, 2020 to 31st March, 2020. Further, by keeping the existing Scheme, certain additions in the terms and conditions have been made, which are as follows:

• Revision in the existing Scheme: Apart from the following changes, all other conditions of the existing Scheme shall remain the same:
  1. Para 8(i) of the Scheme, effective Date: Effective date of the LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 has revised from 16th March, 2020 - 13th June, 2020 to 16th March, 2020 - 31st March, 2020.
  2. Para 8 (vi) of the Scheme, Immunity from Prosecution: Under this Para, the last date of filing of pending documents was 13th June, 2020, which has revised to 31st March, 2020.
• Extended LLP Settlement Scheme 2020: New Para 8A has been added in the existing Scheme and thereby it has extended to the further period, i.e., from 01st April, 2020 to 30th September, 2020. The details of the Scheme are as follows:
  1. Effective Date of the Scheme: Effective date of LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020 shall be in force from 01st April, 2020 to 30th September, 2020.
  2. Applicability: This Scheme shall be applicable to all the belated filings, which shall be due for filing till 31st August, 2020 at the normal fee. In the previous Scheme, only 4 (Four) forms were allowed to file i.e., Form-3, Form-4, Form-8 and Form-11.
  3. Late filing fee under the Scheme: No late filing fee shall be charged on the belated documents till 30th September, 2020.
  4. The Scheme shall not apply: Further, this Scheme shall not apply to those LLPs who have applied for striking off their names from the register of ROC as per Rule 37(1) of the LLP Rules, 2009