When a company borrows against its assets, the security the lender takes is a charge, and that charge has to be registered with the Registrar of Companies in Form CHG-1 within 30 days of creation.
CHG-1 is unusual among MCA forms in one important way: miss the deadline badly enough and the charge becomes unregistrable. There is no indefinite late-fee window. That makes it one of the few filings where a delay can destroy the lender security rather than just cost money.
What Is a Charge, and What Does CHG-1 Do?
A charge is a security interest created on a company assets in favour of a lender: a mortgage over property, hypothecation of stock or receivables, a pledge, or a lien. CHG-1 is the application to register the creation or modification of a charge, filed under Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 3 of the Companies (Registration of Charges) Rules, 2014.
Registration puts the charge on the public record, which is what makes it enforceable against other creditors. Once registered, the ROC issues a certificate of registration in CHG-2, or a certificate of modification in CHG-3.
CHG-1 covers charges other than those relating to debentures. Debenture-related charges are filed in CHG-9.
Fixed Charge vs Floating Charge
| Fixed Charge | Floating Charge | |
|---|---|---|
| Attaches to | A specific, identified asset | A changing class of assets |
| Typical examples | Land, building, specific plant and machinery | Stock in trade, book debts, receivables |
| Company can deal with the asset | No, not without the lender consent | Yes, in the ordinary course of business |
| On default | Lender realises that asset | The charge crystallises and fixes on whatever assets are in the class at that moment |
Both are registrable in CHG-1. The form asks you to describe the instrument and the property charged, so the distinction has to be reflected accurately in the particulars.
Who Must File CHG-1?
The company creating the charge files it. If the company does not, Section 78 lets the charge-holder apply for registration instead, and recover the cost from the company. The Registrar gives the company 14 days to show cause before registering on the lender application.
In practice the lender usually insists on seeing the CHG-2 certificate before releasing funds, which is why this filing rarely gets forgotten on secured bank lending and frequently does on informal or intra-group borrowing.
CHG-1 is a Companies Act form. LLPs have no equivalent charge registration form on the MCA portal.
CHG-1 Due Date: the 30, 60 and 120 Day Rules
This is the part that catches people out. For charges created on or after 2 November 2018, there are three windows, not one:
| Days From Creation | What Applies |
|---|---|
| 0 to 30 days | Normal fee only. This is the actual deadline |
| 31 to 60 days | Registrar may allow registration on payment of additional fees |
| 61 to 120 days | A further 60 days is possible, but only on payment of ad valorem fees based on the amount secured, and on application |
| Beyond 120 days | CHG-1 cannot be filed. See below |
Any filing beyond 30 days also needs a declaration in Form CHG-10 from a director or the company secretary, confirming that the belated registration will not prejudice the rights of any intervening creditor.
What Happens After 120 Days
The Registrar has no power to register the charge. The route is an application to the Central Government under Section 87 for rectification of the register of charges, filed in Form CHG-8, on the grounds that the omission was accidental or that relief is otherwise just and equitable. Only once that order is received can CHG-1 be filed.
That is a months-long process with no guaranteed outcome, which is why the 30-day window deserves to be treated as hard rather than indicative.
Government Fees for CHG-1
The normal fee follows the standard capital slab:
| Nominal Share Capital | Normal Fee |
|---|---|
| Less than ₹1,00,000 | ₹200 |
| ₹1,00,000 to ₹4,99,999 | ₹300 |
| ₹5,00,000 to ₹24,99,999 | ₹400 |
| ₹25,00,000 to ₹99,99,999 | ₹500 |
| ₹1,00,00,000 and above | ₹600 |
Filing between 31 and 60 days doubles the normal fee. Past 60 days the fee is ad valorem on the amount secured and depends on the charge instrument, so it cannot be worked out from the capital slab alone. Our MCA fees calculator computes the fee up to 60 days and tells you when ad valorem rates take over.
Documents Required for CHG-1
- The instrument creating or modifying the charge. Mandatory, and it must be the executed copy, not a draft
- Particulars of all joint charge-holders, where more than one lender is involved
- Form CHG-10 declaration, for any filing beyond 30 days
- The Central Government order under Section 87, where the delay exceeded 120 days
- For a modification, the instrument of modification alongside the original charge particulars
How to File CHG-1 on MCA V3
- Execute and stamp the charge instrument. The date of execution is what starts the 30-day clock
- Log in to mca.gov.in with the company business user credentials
- Open MCA Services, then e-Forms, then CHG-1
- Enter the CIN. Company details pre-fill from master data
- Select whether this is a creation or a modification of charge
- Enter the charge-holder details, the amount secured, the date of creation and a description of the property charged
- Attach the instrument, and CHG-10 if filing late
- Affix the DSC of a director or authorised KMP, and of the charge-holder where required
- Have the form certified by a practising Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary or Cost Accountant
- Pay the fee and submit. The ROC issues CHG-2 on approval
CHG-1 vs CHG-4: Creation and Satisfaction
CHG-1 registers a charge. CHG-4 reports that it has been satisfied once the loan is repaid, and it has its own deadlines.
| CHG-1 | CHG-4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reports | Creation or modification | Satisfaction of the charge |
| Due | 30 days from creation | 30 days from satisfaction |
| Late window | Up to 120 days, ad valorem past 60 | Up to 300 days with additional fees |
| Beyond that | Central Government order required | Central Government order required |
Forgetting CHG-4 is less dangerous than forgetting CHG-1, but it leaves an Open charge sitting on the company record long after the loan is cleared. That surfaces in every due diligence exercise and routinely holds up the next round of lending or an acquisition.
Why Registration Matters More Than the Fee
Under Section 77(3), a charge that is not registered is not taken into account by the liquidator or any other creditor. The debt survives, but the security does not. A lender who financed against specific assets ends up ranking as an unsecured creditor.
So the real cost of a missed CHG-1 is not the multiplied fee. It is that the lender loses priority, and the company has breached a covenant it almost certainly gave.
Common Reasons CHG-1 Gets Rejected
- Date of creation does not match the instrument: the executed date on the deed and the date on the form have to agree
- Unstamped or inadequately stamped instrument: state stamp duty has to be paid before filing
- Missing CHG-10: filed after 30 days without the declaration
- Vague description of the charged property: the particulars must identify the assets, not just restate the loan amount
- Charge-holder DSC missing where the lender signature is required
- Filed past 120 days without the Section 87 order, which cannot be cured at the filing stage
Tracking Charges Across a Portfolio
Charges are created by the finance team and registered by the compliance team, often days apart, and the 30-day clock starts with the former. That handover is where the deadline gets lost.
Leagully reads each company live charge position from MCA master data, flags charges approaching their registration deadline, and prepares CHG-1 and CHG-4 from the instrument details. To check what is currently registered against a company, see our guide on how to search a company and view its charges, and the ROC compliance calendar for every other event-based deadline.