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Virtual mesa de partes in Peru: when does your filing count, and when does the day cut off?

Short answer

If you file through MESA DIGITAL PERÚ, your filing counts as made that same day at any hour, even on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, and the entity's deadline starts the next business day. Every public entity must also run a digital filing desk open 24 hours and give you a cargo showing date and time.

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Peruvian State portal (gob.pe) · El Peruano

Checked 1 Oct 2026Next review 29 Mar 2027

By Gyason · verified 1 Oct 2026

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The digital filing desk is open 24 hours

Every public entity in Peru has a mesa de partes, its document reception unit. It must also run a digital mesa de partes that is open around the clock. Article 117.1 of the TUO of Ley 27444 says:

“Asimismo, cada entidad cuenta con una mesa de partes digital, conforme a los alcances establecidos en la Ley 31170, cuyo horario de atención es de veinticuatro (24) horas, los siete (7) días de la semana.”

(Each entity also has a digital filing desk under Ley 31170, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.)

Ley 31170 adds that you start your procedure through that digital filing desk and the entity answers you the same way, within the deadlines of the TUO and of its TUPA, the entity’s official list of procedures (art. 4).

MESA DIGITAL PERÚ: the day you send it is the day that counts

The State also runs a single reception platform, MESA DIGITAL PERÚ, inside GOB.PE. Its rule changed in July 2025. Decreto Supremo 098-2025-PCM amended article 46 of the Digital Government Regulation, which now says:

“Los escritos, solicitudes y documentos que han sido presentados desde las 00:00 horas hasta las 23:59 horas en cualquier día de la semana ya sea día hábil o inhábil, se consideran presentados el mismo día, para lo cual la MESA DIGITAL PERÚ autogenera un cargo de recepción.”

(Anything filed between 00:00 and 23:59 on any day of the week, business day or not, counts as filed that same day, and MESA DIGITAL PERÚ generates a receipt automatically.)

So there is no cut-off hour. If you send your filing on a Tuesday at 23:40, it counts as filed on Tuesday.

The earlier rule was different, and many people still repeat it. The original article 46.3 said that anything sent after the entity’s office hours counted as filed the next business day, and anything sent on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday counted as filed on the first business day after. That rule no longer applies to MESA DIGITAL PERÚ.

What about each entity’s own filing desk?

Many entities run their own virtual mesa de partes on their website. For those, the TUO sets 24-hour service (art. 117.1), but we found no norm that says in so many words which day a filing sent at midnight counts. Our reading is that if the desk is open 24 hours, what you send at 11 p.m. is filed that day. If your deadline ends that day, do not take the risk: file before the office closes, or use MESA DIGITAL PERÚ if your entity is on it, and keep the cargo.

Filing on a Saturday does not add days

Your filing counting as made on Saturday does not change how your deadlines run. Article 134 of the TUO says:

“Cuando el plazo es señalado por días, se entenderá por hábiles consecutivos, excluyendo del cómputo aquellos no laborables del servicio, y los feriados no laborables de orden nacional o regional. 134.2. Cuando el último día del plazo o la fecha determinada es inhábil o por cualquier otra circunstancia la atención al público ese día no funcione durante el horario normal, son entendidos prorrogados al primer día hábil siguiente.”

(Deadlines in days mean consecutive business days, excluding the service’s non-working days and public holidays. If the last day falls on a non-business day, or the office is not open its normal hours that day, the deadline moves to the next business day.)

If your deadline ends on a Saturday, it really ends on the following business Monday. Filing on Saturday puts you on time, but it does not give you more days.

On the entity’s side, its time to deal with what you filed through MESA DIGITAL PERÚ starts on the business day after you file, or from when you fix a defect if you were asked to (art. 46.3 of the Regulation). The entity also cannot declare days non-working on its own, and even in a force majeure event it must keep its filing desk running (art. 137.3 of the TUO).

Your right to a cargo

The cargo is your proof of filing. Article 117.2 of the TUO requires the reception unit to register your filing and issue the cargo, with an entry number and date, and to send the filing on to its destination the same day.

For MESA DIGITAL PERÚ, article 46.5 of the Regulation says how it arrives:

“La MESA DIGITAL PERÚ envía a la casilla única electrónica o correo electrónico consignado por el ciudadano o persona en general un cargo de recepción de los escritos, solicitudes y documentos electrónicos presentados, con su firma digital de agente automatizado de la entidad y un sello de tiempo, consignando la fecha, hora, cantidad de folios y canal de presentación […]”

(MESA DIGITAL PERÚ sends a receipt to your electronic mailbox or the email you gave, digitally signed and time-stamped, showing the date, time, number of pages and filing channel.)

At a physical counter, the person receiving your filing must write on it, under their signature, the time, date, place, number of pages and attached documents, and hand you the stamped copy as proof (art. 124.2).

They cannot turn your filing away

The filing desk, physical or virtual, does not decide whether your request succeeds. Article 124.1 of the TUO requires it to accept your filing and log it, “sin que en ningún caso pueda calificar, negar o diferir su admisión” (without in any case assessing, refusing or delaying its admission). If a requirement is missing, article 125.1 says they must still accept it, point out the problem once, and give you up to two business days to fix it.

Do I have to bring the paper later?

As a rule, no. Article 123.3 of the TUO says that when you use remote transmission, “no es necesaria la posterior presentación física de la documentación remitida” (you do not need to hand in the documents on paper afterwards). There is one exception: if you filed a scanned document with a handwritten signature and the entity asks for the paper original, you have at most two business days to bring it (art. 47.2 of the Digital Government Regulation).

If you go in person: until what time

At a physical counter, business hours are the schedule the entity sets, which can never be shorter than eight consecutive hours a day (art. 138, item 1). If you arrived within that schedule, they must serve you: “el horario de atención concluye con la prestación del servicio a la última persona compareciente dentro del horario hábil” (service hours end once the last person who arrived within business hours has been served) (art. 138, item 4).

What this page does not cover

Filings with courts and the Judiciary.
Special rules that a law or an entity may set for certain procedures. Check the TUPA or the rules for your procedure.
How the entity notifies you of its answer: see valid notification of an administrative act.
What to do if the entity refuses your procedure: see refused a government procedure in Peru.
How long the entity has to decide and how to challenge its decision: see how long the State has to respond.

How to file

Choose your channel and check whether your entity is on MESA DIGITAL PERÚThe clearest rule, "filed the same day at any hour", is written for MESA DIGITAL PERÚ. If you are filing on the last day of a deadline and do not know how the entity's own platform counts night-time filings, file before the office closes.
Put together one complete, legible fileIdentify the case file (expediente), the procedure and what you are asking for. If something is missing, the entity must point it out once and give you up to two business days to fix it (art. 125.1), but do not count on that.
Save the cargo the same dayDownload or save the cargo with its date, time and registration number. Check your electronic mailbox or email. The cargo is your proof that you filed on time.
If no cargo arrives, keep a recordTake screenshots of the confirmation screen and the sent email, and file again asking for the cargo. If the entity refuses to accept or register your filing, you can use the entity's complaints book (Libro de Reclamaciones).
Complaints book for public entities →
Count your deadlines from the date on the cargoThe entity's deadline starts the business day after you file. If your procedure is subject to administrative silence, that date decides when it runs out.

What people fail to ask in time

Do you know whether the date on your cargo can get your application approved just because the entity did not answer in time?

Find out before it matters →

What most people believe — and what the law says

The belief

If I send my filing through the virtual mesa de partes after 5 p.m., it counts as filed the next day.

The law

That was the original rule in the Digital Government Regulation for MESA DIGITAL PERÚ. Since D.S. 098-2025-PCM (July 2025), anything you file through MESA DIGITAL PERÚ between 00:00 and 23:59 on any day counts as filed that same day (art. 46.2).

The belief

The virtual mesa de partes only works during office hours.

The law

Article 117.1 of the TUO of Ley 27444 says each entity's digital filing desk operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The belief

If my filing has a mistake or a missing document, the filing desk can reject it.

The law

No. The filing desk cannot assess, refuse or delay your filing (art. 124.1). It must accept it and, if something is missing, point it out once and give you up to two business days to fix it (art. 125.1).

The belief

Filing on a Saturday buys me an extra day.

The law

No. Your filing counts as made on Saturday, not Monday. What does happen is that if your deadline ends on a non-business day, it moves to the next business day (art. 134.2).

Frequently asked questions

My deadline is today and it is 11 p.m. Am I on time if I file online?

Through MESA DIGITAL PERÚ, yes: anything you send up to 23:59 counts as filed that day (art. 46.2 of the Regulation, as amended by D.S. 098-2025-PCM). Through the entity's own filing desk, the law says it runs 24 hours (art. 117.1 of the TUO), but we found no norm that says in so many words which day a night-time filing counts. If you can, file before the office closes.

When does the entity's time to answer me start?

For filings made through MESA DIGITAL PERÚ, on the business day after you file. If you were asked to fix something, from the day you fix it (art. 46.3 of the Regulation).

Does the entity have to give me a cargo if I file online?

Yes. The reception unit issues the cargo (art. 117.2 of the TUO). MESA DIGITAL PERÚ sends it to your electronic mailbox (casilla única electrónica) or email, digitally signed and time-stamped, showing date, time, number of pages and filing channel (art. 46.5 of the Regulation).

After filing online, do I have to bring the paper documents?

As a rule, no (art. 123.3 of the TUO). But if you filed a scanned document with a handwritten signature and the entity asks for the paper original, you have at most two business days to bring it (art. 47.2 of the Regulation).

Which days count as business days?

Consecutive days, excluding the service's non-working days and national or regional public holidays (art. 134.1). An entity cannot declare days non-working on its own (art. 137.3).

At the in-person counter, until what time will they serve me?

Until the end of the schedule the entity sets, which cannot be shorter than eight consecutive hours a day. If you arrived within that schedule, they must serve you even if the line runs late: service ends with the last person who arrived within business hours (art. 138, items 1 and 4).