Debt / Charges

Loan Charges: MCA Filing Controls

CA Nikhil Gupta·May 2026·3 min readDebt / Charges

A lender’s security document and the company’s MCA charge record should tell the same story.

Quick View

Owner

CFO and company secretary

Cadence

Per borrowing event

First control

Create a debt and charge register.

Core evidence

Sanction and facility agreement.

Why It Matters

The Companies Act requires prescribed charges on company property or assets to be registered. Timing, forms, additional fees and rectification routes depend on the event and current rules.

Finance should map every secured facility to the asset, lender, amount, ranking, covenant, filing and satisfaction status. Security can include present and future assets or floating interests.

Old charges left unsatisfied can block refinancing or diligence even after the loan is repaid. Satisfaction requires evidence and filing, not only a zero loan balance.

Control Framework

ControlWhat it coversOperating rule
CreationFacility, security and charged assets are identified.Check filing immediately after execution.
ModificationAmount, asset or lender terms change.Assess fresh or modified charge filing.
MonitoringOutstanding loan and MCA charge remain reconciled.Review quarterly.
SatisfactionRepayment and lender release are documented.File and update registers.

Action Checklist

  1. Create a debt and charge register.
  2. Review security before signing.
  3. Obtain board and lender documents.
  4. File within the current legal window.
  5. Reconcile MCA charge data quarterly.
  6. Complete satisfaction after repayment.

Practical Example

A startup repays a working-capital facility but never obtains the lender’s release or files satisfaction. A new lender later sees an active charge and delays the refinancing.

Evidence to Keep

  • Sanction and facility agreement.
  • Security and asset schedule.
  • Board approvals.
  • MCA charge forms and SRNs.
  • Loan statements and covenant reports.
  • No-dues and satisfaction filing.

Warning Signs

  • Waiting until annual filing to create the charge.
  • Using an incomplete asset description.
  • Ignoring modifications.
  • Assuming repayment removes the public charge.
  • Failing to track shared or pari passu security.

Management Decision

Treat charge filing as a financing closing condition, not a later secretarial task.

Maintain a maturity and satisfaction calendar so closed facilities do not remain on the public record.

Record the decision, owner, due date and evidence expected. A verbal explanation should become an approved working, board note, contract amendment, statutory filing or reconciliation before the item is treated as closed.

Rules, forms, thresholds and procedures can change. Use the latest official source and the actual company facts rather than copying a prior-year control or another entity’s legal position.

Exception Review

Classify every exception as a timing difference, data error, missing document, legal non-compliance, control-design gap or control-operating failure. This prevents management from treating fundamentally different problems as one ageing list.

The exception file should show amount or exposure, root cause, immediate correction, preventive action, owner and board-escalation threshold. Repeated low-value issues can become material when they reveal weak systems or management override.

Close the item only after the evidence agrees across source documents, books, portal data and management reporting. A screenshot or email promise is not equivalent to a completed filing, lender waiver, signed contract or reconciled ledger.

Board Escalation

The control should operate across the full transaction population, not only the samples management expects a reviewer to inspect. For this topic, the key stages are creation, modification, monitoring, satisfaction. Each stage should identify the source system, preparer, reviewer, deadline and evidence retained.

A useful management review asks whether the legal document, accounting entry, bank movement, tax treatment and public filing describe the same event. Differences may be valid, but they should be reconciled through a dated working rather than explained from memory during audit or diligence.

Materiality should determine escalation, not whether the company keeps a record. Repeated small exceptions can show weak master data, unclear authority, system bypass or management override. Root cause and preventive action should therefore be documented separately from the immediate correction.

Corporate action should follow the correct sequence: authority, offer or decision, execution, money or asset movement, filing, statutory-register update and public-record verification. Reversing the sequence can create a transaction that is commercially agreed but legally incomplete.

Before any fundraising, restructuring or lender diligence, compare the articles, shareholders’ agreement, board records, statutory registers and MCA data. A mismatch in ownership, director authority or charge status should be escalated before closing documents are signed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a charge? â–¼
A security interest over company property or assets requiring registration when covered by the Act.
Can a late charge still be filed? â–¼
Routes may exist with additional consequences; obtain current professional advice immediately.
Who can file if the company does not? â–¼
The Act contains lender-related provisions, but the company should not rely on them as routine control.
What proves satisfaction? â–¼
Repayment, lender release and the completed statutory filing.