The government has offered a one-time settlement scheme to companies whose directors were disqualified from their boards following the discovery that these companies had not filed annual returns and financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for three consecutive years. Over two lakh companies had defaulted in filing their statutory reports and so three lakh or more directors on the boards of these companies were disqualified in a punitive action. The scheme, called 'Condonation of Delay Scheme 2018', will open on January 1, 2018, for a period of three months. A circular put out by the corporate affairs ministry says the scheme intends to give an opportunity for non-compliant, defaulting companies to rectify the default. All defaulting companies other than those that have been struck off or removed from the register of companies are eligible to apply for rectification of records. The scheme allows defaulting companies to submit all documents that were due for filing till June 30, 2017. A fee of Rs. 30,000 will be charged for condoning the delayed filing of the documents, it added. The government will also withdraw any pending prosecution for defaults in the filing of annual reports and financial statements, the circular said.