According to Section 136, a copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statements, if any, auditor’s report and every other document required by law to be annexed or attached to the financial statements, which are to be laid before a company in its general meeting, shall be sent to every member of the company, to every trustee for the debenture-holder of any debentures issued by the company, and to all persons other than such member or trustee, being the person so entitled, not less than twenty-one days before the date of the meeting. [Section 136(1)]

Statement containing salient features of financial statements:

In the case of a listed company, the provisions of this section shall be deemed to be complied with, if the copies of the documents are made available for inspection at its registered office during working hours for a period of twenty-one days before the date of the meeting and a statement containing the salient features of such documents in the prescribed form or copies of the documents, as the company may deem fit, is sent to every member of the company and to every trustee for the holders of any debentures issued by the company not less than twenty-one days before the date of the meeting unless the shareholders ask for full financial statements. [First Proviso to Section 136(1)]

The statement containing features of documents shall be in Form AOC-3. [Rule 10 of Accounts Rules, 2014]

Manner of circulation of financial statements in certain cases:

The Central Government may prescribe the manner of circulation of financial statements of companies having such net worth and turnover as may be prescribed. [Second Proviso to Section 136(1)]

In case of all listed companies and such public companies which have a net worth of more than one crore rupees and turnover of more than ten crore rupees, the financial statements may be sent-

(a) by electronic mode to such members whose shareholding is in dematerialised format and whose email Ids are registered with Depository for communication purposes;

(b) where Shareholding is held otherwise than by dematerialised format, to such members who have positively consented in writing for receiving by electronic mode; and

(c) by despatch of physical copies through any recognised mode of delivery as specified under section 20 of the Act, in all other cases.

[Rule 11 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014]

Filing of financial statements and fees:

According to Section 137(1) as discussed earlier here, a copy of the financial statements, including consolidated financial statement, if any, along with all the documents which are required to be or attached to such financial statements under this Act, duly adopted at the annual general meeting of the company, shall be filed with the Registrar within thirty days of the date of annual general meeting.

Every company shall file the financial statements with Registrar together with Form AOC-4. [Rule 12(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014]

The class of companies as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time, shall mandatorily file their financial statement in Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format and the Central Government may specify the manner of such filing under such notification for such class of companies. [Rule 12(2) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014]

“Extensible Business Reporting Language” means a standardised language for communication in electronic form to express, report or file financial information by companies under this rule. [Explanation to Rule 12(2) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014]

(3) The fees or additional fees referred to in sub-section (1) of section 137 and in the second proviso to the said subsection and in sub-section (2) of the said section shall be as specified in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014.