Director KYC is no longer a yearly chore. From 31 March 2026, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs replaced the annual DIR-3 KYC with a single form, DIR-3 KYC Web, filed once in every three-year cycle, by 30 June. Separately, any change in your personal mobile number, email or residential address now has to be reported within 30 days.
If your DIN already shows as deactivated, the same form is used to reactivate it. The details are below.
What changed, and when
The change came through the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Amendment Rules, 2025, published in the Gazette of India as G.S.R. 943(E) on 31 December 2025 and in force from 31 March 2026. Three things moved:
| Point | Before 31 March 2026 | From 31 March 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| How often | Every financial year | Once every three consecutive financial years |
| Due date | 30 September | 30 June of the year following the third financial year |
| Form | e-form DIR-3 KYC or the web service DIR-3 KYC-WEB | One form: DIR-3 KYC Web |
| Change of mobile, email or address | No separate time limit in rule 12A | Report within 30 days of the change, with the prescribed fee |
The new rule 12A says that every individual who holds a DIN as on 31 March of a financial year files the KYC intimation “on or before the 30th June of the immediately following every third consecutive financial year”.
Is your KYC due this year?
The rule fixes the rhythm but does not print a personal due date for each DIN. The safest way to know is to check your DIN on the MCA portal before April each year and see whether the KYC status shows as due. Commentary in the profession reads the cycle as running from the year the DIN was allotted, but until MCA states it plainly, rely on the portal status rather than a calculation.
The KYC window for anyone due in 2026 closed on 30 June 2026. If yours was due and was not filed, the DIN is likely to be marked deactivated; see the reactivation section below.
If you would rather have someone watch these dates for every director on the board, our annual ROC compliance support tracks director KYC with the company’s other filings.
Who has to file
- Every individual who holds a DIN on 31 March of the financial year concerned.
- That includes people who have resigned from every board but still hold a DIN, because the rule is tied to holding the number, not to holding a directorship.
- Foreign nationals with a DIN are covered too; the form asks for passport details.
If you no longer need your DIN at all, surrendering it is a separate process and worth discussing with your adviser rather than letting the KYC lapse.
The 30-day update rule
Rule 12A(2) is new and easy to overlook. Whenever your personal mobile number, email address or residential address changes, you must file DIR-3 KYC Web within 30 days of that change, along with the fee prescribed in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014.
This matters because MCA sends one-time passwords to the mobile and email on record. A director who changes phone numbers and forgets to update MCA can find, three years later, that they cannot complete the KYC at all without first fixing the old details.
What the form asks for
DIR-3 KYC Web has a “purpose” selection at the top: reactivation of DIN, KYC compliance, or updating mobile, email, permanent address or present address. It then asks for:
- DIN and name, with OTP verification on the existing mobile and email;
- nationality, date of birth, PAN and (where relevant) passport number;
- updated contact details and addresses, if they have changed;
- residential proof such as a voter ID, passport, driving licence, Aadhaar, bank statement or utility bill, when an address is being changed;
- a DSC of the DIN holder and, where the form requires it, a certificate from a practising Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant or Company Secretary.
The declaration in the form is made under section 448 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, so the details must be accurate.
Deactivated DIN: what it means and how to reactivate
If the KYC is not filed in time, the rules provide for the DIN to be deactivated. In practice that blocks most MCA filings that need the director’s DIN, including signing the company’s own forms, until the number is reactivated.
Reactivation is done through the same DIR-3 KYC Web form, choosing “Reactivation of DIN” as the purpose and paying the fee prescribed for late filing. The steps are:
- Confirm on the MCA portal that the DIN status is deactivated for non-filing of KYC.
- Make sure your DSC is valid and the mobile and email you can access are the ones you will enter.
- File DIR-3 KYC Web with the purpose set to reactivation, attach any proof needed and pay the fee.
- Check that the DIN shows as active again before the company files anything that needs your DIN.
A deactivated DIN does not by itself remove you from a board, but it can hold up board-level filings such as the annual return, a director change or an auditor appointment. Fix it before those dates come round.
Complianto (complianto.in), operated by Mentorcorp Private Limited, is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government body. We do not issue official documents. We charge a professional fee for application assistance and advisory services. Applicants can apply directly to the government without our fees via the official portals: MCA (mca.gov.in), Income Tax (incometax.gov.in), GST (gst.gov.in), MSME (udyamregistration.gov.in), FSSAI (foscos.fssai.gov.in), Startup India (startupindia.gov.in), and IP India (ipindia.gov.in).
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
