What an AI assistant should never be allowed to do in an ROC filing
Assistants can now read a client’s request, pick the e-Form and hold a conversation to fill it. The interesting question for a CS practice is where that help should stop.
When we show AutoROC to Company Secretaries, the first question is rarely “what can it do?”. It is “what will it do without me?”. That is the right instinct. ROC filings carry a professional’s name and a company’s legal record, and a mistake can mean a rejection, additional fees or an awkward conversation with a client. So we want to be explicit about the lines we drew.
Where an assistant earns its place
Most of the time in a filing is not professional judgement. It is classifying what the client wants, finding facts already on record, asking for what is missing and chasing it, and checking formats. These are the steps we hand to the assistant:
Mapping a plain-words request, such as “appoint a director”, to the likely e-Form, with a confidence level.
Pre-filling the company facts already on record.
Interviewing the client for missing fields, one question at a time.
Validating DIN, PAN, CIN, dates and amounts as they arrive.
Reading attached resolutions, consents and sanction letters into the ticket.
None of these steps commits anything to the registry. They produce a draft and a complete file for a professional to look at.
The lines we would not cross
The assistant should not…
Why
File on the MCA portal
Filing is a professional act; a person reviews and submits on MCA V3
Decide that a form is legally correct
Applicability, timing and consequences are matters of professional judgement
Invent a missing value
If a field is unknown, it should ask, not guess a plausible answer
Override a failed check silently
A DIN or date that fails validation should block, not be waved through
Mark a filing complete without an SRN
The record should show what was actually filed and when
These are the reasons the product stops where it does. The professional reviews the pre-filled e-Form, prints it to PDF or exports JSON for the MCA V3 portal, files it, and records the SRN. The ticket moves to done after ROC approval, not before.
Rules when you want certainty
We also think a practice should be able to choose how much language-model behaviour it wants. AutoROC has two modes that write to the same fields and run the same checks. The rule-based mode classifies by keywords and asks every missing field in order, which is predictable and easy to audit. The language-model mode reads the client’s words and documents, holds a natural conversation and records fields through structured tool calls. Some firms will prefer the conversation for clients who write long, messy requests. Others will prefer rules for the forms they file most often. Both end at the same professional review.
Why a confidence level matters
Classification is the step most likely to be wrong in an interesting way. A client who says “we took a loan” may need a charge form, or may not, depending on the facts. Showing a confidence level next to the suggested form is a small detail with a large effect: it tells the reviewer where to slow down. A request the assistant cannot place should become a general request, with details still collected, rather than being forced into the nearest form.
What this means for a practice
The time an assistant saves should be spent on review, not removed from it. If associates stop typing and chasing, they have more attention for checking applicability, timelines and documents. That is the trade we think is worth making. Statutory questions, from due dates to consequences of delay, remain for the professional and the client’s adviser to confirm.
Can an AI assistant file ROC forms on the MCA portal?
In AutoROC it does not. The assistant classifies the request, pre-fills, collects missing fields and checks formats; a CS or CA reviews the e-Form, files it on MCA V3 and records the SRN.
What happens if the assistant is unsure which e-Form applies?
It shows a confidence level with the suggested form, and anything outside the catalogue is raised as a general request so the professional decides.
Is there a non-AI mode in AutoROC?
Yes. A rule-based mode classifies by keywords and asks every missing field in order; a language-model mode holds a conversation. Both run the same checks.