Vide Notification dated 9th September, 2015, Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified “Companies (Filing of documents and forms in Extensible Business Reporting Language) Rules, 2015”. As per the same, companies falling in the following categories will have to file their Financial Statements under section 137 of the Companies Act, 2013 using the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) taxonomy for financial year commencing on or after 1st April, 2014:-

1. all companies listed with any Stock Exchange(s) in India and their Indian subsidiaries; or
2. all companies having paid up capital of Rupees five crore and above; or,
3. all companies having turnover of Rupees one hundred crore and above; or,
4. all companies which were hitherto covered under the Companies (Filing of Documents and Forms in Extensible Business Reporting Language) Rules, 2011:

However, companies in Banking, Insurance, Power Sector and Non-Banking Financial Companies are exempted from XBRL filing.

Indian subsidiaries of a listed company are required to file in XBRL format, irrespective of their paid up capital or turnover.

If the holding company is mandated to file in XBRL, details of all subsidiaries (including foreign subsidiaries) need to be given as per “Notes - Subsidiary information” in the XBRL instance document of the holding company.

In case of Indian subsidiaries, their financial statements are not required to be separately attached in the e-form of the holding company. SRN details of the e-Form AOC-4 XBRL, as applicable, filed by Indian subsidiary needs to be mentioned in the instance document of the holding company. In case these e-Forms have not been filed by Indian subsidiaries, then reason of not filing also needs to be provided (For e.g: Different financial year followed by subsidiary, Extension of Financial Year or AGM taken by subsidiary, etc.)

In case of foreign subsidiaries, annual accounts need to be attached as a separate PDF document in the e-Form AOC-4 XBRL (as per Section 129) of the holding company. In the XBRL document, in the element, you may mention 'Whether subsidiary has filed balance sheet' as NO and reason for not filing can be mentioned as 'Not applicable as it is a foreign subsidiary'.

There is no separate element for unclassified shares in the taxonomy. It needs to be provided either as equity or preference shares only. Necessary details/ clarifications can be provided as a footnote.

Gross turnover (i.e. inclusive of duties and taxes) is to be considered for determining Rs. 100 crores turnover threshold for eligibility of a company for XBRL filings in FY 2014-15 onwards

Companies that are engaged in generation or transmission or distribution of electric power as per their object clause are classified as power companies for XBRL filings. Such companies are exempted from XBRL filings of their Financial Statement for FY 2014-15 onwards irrespective of whether they prepare their accounts as per Schedule III of the Companies Act, 2013 or not. Companies producing electric power for their captive consumption are not exempted from XBRL filings.

Standalone financial statement of the holding company is to be filed mandatorily in XBRL. It will also contain details on information of its subsidiaries as per “Notes - Subsidiary Information”. Consolidated financials, if applicable, may also be filed with MCA as the taxonomy has elements for consolidation as well.

The details in ‘Notes - Related party’ are applicable for the previous year in case the same are entered for the current year. However, in case the related party was not a related party in the previous year then, the company can enter zero (0) in respect of the financial elements for that related party. In element for CIN of related party, CIN as per the current year should be entered. Suitable footnote with respect to the same should also be included in the instance document.Above shall also be applicable for cases where the related party was related for the previous year and is no more a related party in the current year.

The listed holding company has to file its standalone and consolidated financial statement (if applicable) in XBRL. Its Indian subsidiaries also need to file their financial statements in XBRL.

All Banking companies (that are regulated by RBI) and all Insurance companies (that are regulated by IRDA) have been exempted from XBRL filing of their Financial Statements till further order. All NBFCs that are registered with RBI or exempt from registration with RBI but registered with other regulators like SEBI, IRDA, National Housing Bank, etc. are exempted from XBRL filings. Further, NBFCs and Power companies are exempted from XBRL filing irrespective of whether Schedule III is applicable to them or not.