Sections 383 and 384 of Companies Act 2013: Service on Foreign Company and Compliance Requirements
Sections 383 and 384 form part of Chapter XXII of the Companies Act, 2013 dealing with companies incorporated outside India. Section 383 specifies how a process, notice or other document may be served on a foreign company. Section 384 applies specified provisions relating to debentures, annual return, corporate social responsibility, books of account, charges and inspection to foreign companies.
Section 383 - Service on Foreign Company
Section 383 provides a statutory method for serving a process, notice or other document that is required to be served on a foreign company.
A process, notice or other document required to be served on a foreign company is treated as sufficiently served when it is addressed to a person whose name and address have been delivered to the Registrar under Section 380 and is left at, or sent by post to, that address, or is served by electronic mode.
How Section 383 works
Section 380 requires prescribed particulars and documents concerning a foreign company and its authorised persons in India to be delivered to the Registrar. Section 383 links service of legal and statutory communications to the address supplied under Section 380. This creates a recognised Indian address and electronic route for service on the foreign company.
Section 384 - Debentures, Annual Return, CSR, Charges, Books of Account and Inspection
Section 384 does not create a single compliance obligation. Instead, it makes specified provisions of the Companies Act applicable to a foreign company, in several instances mutatis mutandis, meaning with the changes necessary to make those provisions workable in the context of a foreign company.
Section 384(1) - Debentures
The provisions of Section 71 apply mutatis mutandis to a foreign company. Section 71 regulates debentures and contains requirements concerning their issue and related protections.
Section 384(2) - Annual Return and Corporate Social Responsibility
Section 92 and Section 135 apply to a foreign company subject to the exceptions, modifications and adaptations prescribed under the Act. Section 92 deals with annual returns. Section 135 contains the statutory framework for corporate social responsibility where its applicability conditions are met.
For foreign companies, Rule 7 of the Companies (Registration of Foreign Companies) Rules, 2014 requires the annual return to be prepared and filed in Form FC-4 within sixty days from the close of the financial year, together with the prescribed fee.
Section 384(3) - Books of Account in India
Section 128 applies to the extent that a foreign company must keep at its principal place of business in India books of account relating to monies received and spent, sales and purchases, and assets and liabilities arising in the course of or in relation to its business in India.
Section 384(4) - Registration of Charges
Chapter VI of the Companies Act, 2013 applies mutatis mutandis to charges on properties created or acquired by a foreign company. Chapter VI contains the statutory framework for registration and related compliance concerning charges.
Section 384(5) - Inspection, Inquiry and Investigation
Chapter XIV applies mutatis mutandis to the Indian business of a foreign company in the same manner in which that Chapter applies to a company incorporated in India. Chapter XIV contains provisions relating to inspection, inquiry and investigation.
Official Compliance Resources
Foreign companies should verify current forms, filing requirements, fees and portal instructions from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs before filing. MCA currently provides Form FC-4 and its instruction kit for the annual return of a foreign company.
Updated: 17 September 2026. This page is a general legal information resource and should be read with the current text of the Companies Act, 2013, applicable rules, notifications and amendments.