4 March 2026
SEBI replaces quarterly AIF reporting with an annual report plus a limited quarterly one, from March 2026
How do AIFs report their activity to SEBI now?
Under the circular of 4 March 2026, every AIF files a comprehensive Annual Activity Report on the SEBI Intermediary Portal within 30 calendar days of the end of March, and a limited Quarterly Activity Report within 15 calendar days of each other quarter. No separate quarterly report is filed for the March quarter, because the annual report contains its data points.
What changed
SEBI issued a circular on 4 March 2026, reference HO/19/28/(1)2026-AFD-SEC3/I/6176/2026, addressed to all Alternative Investment Funds and to the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association. It was signed by Manish Tekriwal, Deputy General Manager.
It supersedes Clause 15.1 of Chapter 15, "Reporting by AIFs", of the Master Circular for AIFs dated 7 May 2024, and came into force with immediate effect.
What it replaced
Before this circular, every AIF reported to SEBI quarterly, within 15 calendar days of each quarter end, in a format hosted by IVCA on the association's website. Reporting under regulation 28 of the AIF Regulations has always been an activity report rather than a performance one.
The new structure
| Report | Frequency | Deadline | Filed on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Activity Report, comprehensive | Yearly, at March financial year-end | Within 30 calendar days | SEBI Intermediary Portal |
| Quarterly Activity Report, limited | Each quarter except March | Within 15 calendar days | SEBI Intermediary Portal |
The first Annual Activity Report was for the year ending March 2026, due by 31 May 2026. The first limited quarterly report in the revised format was for the quarter ending June 2026.
Two changes sit inside that table and are easy to miss. Filing moves from an industry-association format to SEBI's own portal. And the March quarter loses its standalone report, because the annual one subsumes it.
Why SEBI says it did this
The circular cites the review clause at 15.1.4 of the Master Circular, which requires the format to be reviewed periodically by industry associations or an AIF Standard Setting Forum in consultation with SEBI. It records that a working group SEBI had constituted on "Ease of Doing Business and Reducing Cost of Compliance" recommended reducing reporting frequency, and that the change was made in consultation with the Standards Forum of AIFs.
IVCA was given three days from issuance to publish the revised formats, and told to assist AIFs in understanding them.
What is not settled
The circular does not reproduce the revised formats or say what the "limited" quarterly report omits relative to the old one. That detail lives with IVCA rather than in the circular, which means the substance of the obligation is not in the instrument that creates it.
Sources
- Regulatory Reporting by AIFs — HO/19/28/(1)2026-AFD-SEC3/I/6176/2026 — SEBI, 4 March 2026 · primary
- Regulatory Reporting by AIFs circular, full text, 2 pages — SEBI, 4 March 2026 · primary
Dated 4 March 2026, last checked against source 25 August 2026. The dateline is the date of the instrument this item reports, not the date the page was written. This page reports what a document says. It is information, not legal, tax or investment advice, and it is not a recommendation about any fund.