ICAI MEF 2026-27 Deadline Nears on August 27: Eligibility, OTP Validation and Documents CA Firms Should Check

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has opened the Multipurpose Empanelment Form (MEF) for 2026-27, giving eligible CA firms and practising members a fresh window to submit details used for professional empanelment with bodies such as the Reserve Bank of India, NABARD, the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies and other authorities. The official MEF portal currently states that the last date for submission of the online form is 27 August 2026.

Who can file MEF 2026-27

ICAI's Professional Development Committee says eligibility for filing the MEF is determined with reference to 1 July 2026. Partnership or LLP firms and proprietary firms must have been in existence on that date. A member filing in an individual name must have held a full-time Certificate of Practice on 1 July 2026.

ICAI also cautions that eligibility to file the MEF does not by itself guarantee eligibility for every audit allotment. Individual auditees may apply separate criteria, so applicants should also check the relevant RBI, NABARD, public-sector bank or other authority guidelines wherever applicable.

How existing and first-time applicants should log in

Applicants who were registered for MEF in earlier years can use their previous credentials. First-time applicants must register for MEF 2026-27 on the official portal before filing. ICAI advises members to read the current advisory before submission because a number of fields and eligibility checks are tied to records in the Self-Service Portal.

Green fields, white fields and the importance of SSP data

The advisory explains that green fields are non-editable and pull information relating to firms, members, partners and CA employees from ICAI's Self-Service Portal. White fields are editable and carry forward data from the previous year's MEF for updating. If a green-field detail needs correction, the underlying SSP record must be updated for the change to be recognised in MEF.

The form can be saved page by page and edited multiple times before final submission. Once submitted, however, the MEF cannot be edited. That makes a pre-submission review particularly important for firms with partner, employee or practice-status changes.

Partner and proprietor credit depends on continuing exclusivity

For credit of a partner or proprietor, ICAI looks beyond the 1 July 2026 snapshot. The person must remain exclusively associated with the applicant from 1 July 2026 until the date of the second verification, which the advisory says is normally carried out in October or November against updated SSP records.

For partners, full-time CoP status must continue during that period, and the partner should not simultaneously have sole practice, be associated with another firm as partner, proprietor or CA employee, or be employed elsewhere. Similar exclusivity conditions apply to proprietors and members practising in their individual names.

What counts as audit experience

ICAI states that a member's audit experience should be reported only where the member signed the audit report or conducted the audit. Experience as an articled assistant, audit assistant or CA employee should not be included as the member's audit experience for MEF purposes.

For the MEF panel including the Bank Branch Auditors' Panel, branch-audit experience of public-sector and private-sector banks is relevant. If an applicant audited both a public-sector and a private-sector bank in the same year, that year is counted only once. Separate parameters apply for the panel relating to statutory auditors of State Cooperative Banks and Central Cooperative Banks for submission to NABARD.

OTP validation is required for the declaration

The MEF declaration must be validated through one-time passwords sent to the email address and mobile number registered in ICAI's SSP. The declaration is to be validated by all partners, the proprietor or the individual applicant, as applicable. If contact details need to be changed, ICAI directs members to update them in SSP and refresh the details in MEF.

Financial documents for FY 2024-25

The advisory requires all MEF applicants to upload financial documents for FY 2024-25. Depending on the constitution of the practice, these include the complete income-tax return in JSON format, ITR acknowledgement, computation of total income, balance sheet and income and expenditure account. For partnership firms, specified tax documents are also required for partners.

An important exception applies to applicants who used the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44ADA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for FY 2024-25 and filed their return accordingly: they need not upload the balance sheet and income and expenditure account. ICAI also instructs applicants to enter financial information in absolute rupee amounts rather than shorthand figures such as lakhs.

What happens after submission

ICAI generally hosts a draft MEF panel in October or November for applicants to verify. Partner or CA employee changes between 1 July 2026 and the second verification can affect credit, and a firm that closes or merges during that period may not be included in the panel. Likewise, an individual applicant whose CoP status changes from full-time to part-time or no CoP during the relevant period may be excluded.

Practical takeaway for CA firms

With the online filing deadline approaching, applicants should reconcile SSP records, confirm partner and employee status, collect FY 2024-25 financial documents, verify registered mobile and email details for OTP validation and review the entire form before final submission. Because the official portal currently specifies 27 August 2026 as the last date, members should rely on the live MEF portal and advisory for any subsequent change in deadline or instructions.

Key takeaway

The filing deadline is imminent and the official advisory contains multiple practical compliance checks relevant to practising CAs and firms.