The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has now relaxed the deadline for listed Indian firms to announce their financial results. 

The decision has been made in the wake of surging covid-19 cases in the so-called second wave of the pandemic in the country. Sebi on Thursday provided relaxation to companies from compliance with certain provisions of Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations.

• In a circular, Sebi said listed Indian companies, which are currently required to announce their quarterly financial results within 45 days from the end of the quarter or by 15 May, 2021, are now allowed to file their March quarter results for fiscal 2021 by 30 June.

• The deadline for filing annual audited financial results too has been extended by the markets regulator. Currently all companies are required to file their audited financials within 60 days from the end of the financial year, i.e. by 30 May. This deadline has been extended till 30 June, 2021 by Sebi.

• Sebi has also extended the deadline for companies to file their annual secretarial compliance report by a month till 30 June, 2021.

• Also, the deadline for submitting the statement of deviation or variation in use of funds (along with the financial results) has been extended by a month till 30 June, 2021.

It also said that listed entities are permitted to use digital signature certifications for authentication or certification of filings or submissions made to the stock exchanges under the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 for all filings until December 31, 2021.

Among other relaxations, the deadlines for submission of Internal Audit Report for the half year ending March 2021, net worth certificate in margin trading for CM Segment and net worth certificate for all members for half year ending March 2021 have been extended till July 31, 2021.

Additionally, regarding the half-yearly Internal Audit Report (IAR) to be submitted by RTAs within 45 days from the closure of the half year as mandated by NSDL and CDSL, SEBI has decided that the timeline of May 15, 2021, for submission of IAR by RTAs for half year ended March 31, 2021, has been extended to July 31, 2021, in view of the Covid-19 situation.