The government has asked big companies to file annual documents and profit and loss accounts in prescribed electronic format called XBRL to ensure greater transparency and improvement in corporate governance.

At present, companies file their annual returns and balance sheets with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by filing up an e-form. Use of XBRL format would allow the users of financial information to electronically retrieve data with greater accuracy.

"It has been decided by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to mandate certain class of companies to file balance sheets and, profit and loss account for the year 2010-11 onwards by using XBRL taxonomy," the MCA said in circular.

In the first phase, all listed companies along with their overseas and home subsidiaries, and those having a paid up capital of Rs 5 crore and above will have to file their annual returns and balance sheets using XBRL, it said.

Sources said the MCA is mulling making filing of balance sheets for companies easier, as a host of them currently file statements of income, rather than balance sheets put up in the ministry's website as a scanned document.

Companies having March 31 as the closing day for a given fiscal can file their balance sheets in the new format by September, without paying an additional fee, the Ministry said.