The Fast Track Exit (FTE) Scheme, now administered through Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013, is the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' mechanism for removing defunct companies from its register without the cost and time of formal liquidation. It works well — but only for companies that are genuinely inactive, with clean books and no pending disputes. Here is the practical checklist for taking a company through it in 2026.
Step 1: Confirm Eligibility First
Before spending time on paperwork, verify the company qualifies. It must have:
- Not commenced business within one year of incorporation, or
- Not carried on any business for the two immediately preceding financial years, and
- No outstanding liabilities, litigation, or pending inspection/investigation
If the company holds any assets, owes any creditor, or has an unresolved tax advisory and compliance matter such as a pending TDS or GST demand, resolve that first — filing prematurely almost always results in rejection or a query from the Registrar.
Step 2: Clear the Books
Get a statement of accounts prepared, not older than 30 days from the date of filing, certified by a practicing chartered accountant. This should show NIL or negligible assets and liabilities. This is also the point to run a final internal reconciliation — treat it as a mini internal audit and due diligence exercise so nothing surfaces later.
Step 3: Board and Shareholder Approvals
- Convene a board meeting and pass a resolution approving the strike-off application and authorizing a director to file it.
- Obtain shareholder approval via special resolution, or written consent of members holding at least 75% of paid-up share capital.
- Have your corporate secretarial team maintain the minutes and resolutions — these are core annexures to the ROC filing.
Step 4: Prepare the Filing Bundle
- Form STK-2 — the primary strike-off application, with government fee
- Form STK-3 — indemnity bond from every director (individually, notarized)
- Form STK-4 — affidavit from every director confirming the company's status
- Statement of accounts (certified, as above)
- Special resolution or consent letters
- Statement regarding pending litigation, if any (a NIL declaration if there is none)
- No-objection certificate from the relevant regulatory authority, if the company falls under a sector-specific regulator (e.g. RBI, IRDAI, SEBI)
Step 5: File and Track
Submit Form STK-2 on the MCA portal. The Registrar publishes a public notice (Form STK-6) inviting objections within 30 days. If none are received, and the Registrar is satisfied, the company's name is struck off and a notice is published in the Official Gazette (Form STK-7), which is the final confirmation of closure.
Common Reasons Applications Get Rejected
- Outstanding statutory dues discovered during ROC scrutiny
- Directors' DIN not KYC-compliant at the time of filing
- Annual filings (AOC-4, MGT-7) pending for prior years — these typically need to be brought up to date before STK-2 will be accepted
- Bank accounts not formally closed, with balances still reflecting activity
Timeline
Realistically, 4 to 6 months from board resolution to Gazette notification, assuming no objections and a clean filing. Companies that rush the documentation stage often take longer overall because of resubmission cycles.
Fast Track Exit is the right tool for a genuinely dormant entity — but 'fast' only holds if the groundwork (dues cleared, filings current, accounts certified) is done properly before the application goes in.
Perfect Accounting prepares and files Fast Track Exit applications end-to-end, including clearing pending statutory dues and coordinating director documentation, so the process moves in one clean pass rather than several rounds of ROC queries.