ADT-1
What ADT-1 means, how it works, a worked example, the mistakes we see and the questions founders ask.
DefinitionADT-1 is the MCA form a company files to notify the Registrar that it has appointed a statutory auditor, due within 15 days of the appointment.
Every company must have a statutory auditor from its first year, whatever its turnover. The board appoints the first auditor within 30 days of incorporation, and shareholders then appoint or ratify an auditor at each AGM for a term of up to five years. ADT-1 records that appointment with the Registrar of Companies and carries the auditor's written consent and eligibility certificate. You meet it twice: once just after incorporation and again after any AGM that appoints a new auditor. Miss the 15-day window and the MCA charges an additional fee that grows with the delay. Auditors also use ADT-1 as proof that they hold the office, so banks and investors doing due diligence will ask for the filed copy.
How ADT-1 works
Every company must have a statutory auditor from its first month. The board appoints the first auditor within 30 days of incorporation; if it does not, the shareholders do so at a general meeting within 90 days. That first auditor holds office until the first annual general meeting, where the shareholders appoint an auditor for a term of up to five years.
ADT-1 is how the Registrar learns of the appointment. It is filed within 15 days of the meeting that made the appointment, with the auditor's written consent and a certificate that the auditor is eligible under Section 141 of the Companies Act 2013. The fee follows the company's share capital, from ₹200 for capital under ₹1 lakh to ₹600 for ₹1 crore and above, and the additional fee for a late filing starts at twice the normal fee and climbs with every month of delay.
The form also closes the loop at the other end: when an auditor leaves, the auditor files ADT-3 and the company appoints a replacement, again reported on ADT-1. Private companies with paid-up capital under ₹50 crore and small companies are exempt from the mandatory rotation rules, so one firm can serve them indefinitely, reappointed every five years.
A Bengaluru software company incorporated on 2 June holds its first board meeting on 20 June and appoints an auditor. The company files ADT-1 by 5 July with the consent letter attached. At its first AGM the following September the shareholders appoint the same firm for five years, and a second ADT-1 goes in within 15 days of that AGM. From then on the next filing is due only after five years, unless the auditor resigns.
Mistakes we see with ADT-1
- Treating the first-auditor ADT-1 as optional because the rules once allowed it; the MCA portal now expects the filing, and the AGM appointment is in any case mandatory.
- Appointing an auditor who is not independent of the company, for example the firm that keeps the books, which makes the appointment void under Section 141.
- Filing ADT-1 months late and paying twelve times the fee, when the form takes ten minutes once the consent letter exists.
Last updated 19 October 2026. Checked against the MCA, GST, Income-tax and Trade Marks rules in force for October 2026.
Where you will meet this term
Questions founders ask about ADT-1
Is ADT-1 required for the first auditor appointed by the board?
File it. The Act's wording on the first auditor is ambiguous and the MCA's own help notes expect the form, so every incorporation we handle includes an ADT-1 within 15 days of the first board meeting. It costs a few hundred rupees and avoids a query later.
What happens if the AGM does not appoint an auditor?
The existing auditor continues, but the company is in default of Section 139 and the directors are liable to a penalty. The usual cure is to hold the general meeting, pass the appointment and file ADT-1 with the additional fee for the delay.
Can a company change its auditor before the five-year term ends?
Yes, but removal before the term needs a special resolution and the Central Government's approval through Form ADT-2; a resignation is simpler, with the auditor filing ADT-3 and the company appointing a replacement at a general meeting.