Expert Guide
A complete walkthrough — Pvt Limited Registration
Reading this guide locally — In AGS Colony Valasaravakkam, in the residential colony with neighbourhood retail micro-market of AGS Colony Valasaravakkam.
What Private Limited incorporation means under Indian company law
Limited liability and separate legal personality
The foundational doctrine of Private Limited incorporation is separate legal personality, articulated by the House of Lords in Salomon v A Salomon and Co Ltd [1897] and adopted by Indian jurisprudence in Tata Engineering and Locomotive Co Ltd v State of Bihar [1965 SCR 391]. The company is a distinct legal person from its members and directors, capable of holding property, suing and being sued in its own name. Liability of members under Section 2(22) is limited to the amount unpaid on the shares held. The corporate veil can be lifted only in narrow circumstances — fraud, sham, evasion of statutory obligation — as elaborated in Vodafone International Holdings BV v Union of India [2012 6 SCC 613]. The limited-liability shield is the principal commercial advantage of Private Limited over proprietorship and partnership, and is the reason promoters of consequence almost invariably elect the Private Limited form for ventures with external counterparties.
Constitutional documents — MOA and AOA
The Memorandum of Association under Section 4 is the foundational charter that defines the company's name, registered office State, objects, liability and capital. The MOA must be in one of the Tables A to E of Schedule I, depending on whether the company is limited by shares, limited by guarantee or unlimited. The Articles of Association under Section 5 contain the regulations for management of the company, covering board composition, meetings, share transfer, dividend declaration, and members' rights. Section 6 establishes the supremacy of the Act over any conflicting MOA / AOA provision. Section 13 governs alteration of MOA (special resolution plus Central Government approval for object-clause changes affecting registered office State), Section 14 governs alteration of AOA (special resolution plus filing of MGT-14 within thirty days). The MOA and AOA filed with SPICe+ Part B become the binding constitutional documents on incorporation.
Statutory framework under Section 7
Private Limited incorporation in India is governed by Section 7 of the Companies Act 2013 read with the Companies (Incorporation) Rules 2014. Section 7(1) requires the subscribers to the memorandum to file an application with the Registrar within whose jurisdiction the registered office of the company is to be situated, accompanied by the MOA and AOA duly signed by the subscribers, a declaration by a professional that the requirements of the Act and Rules have been complied with, a declaration from each subscriber and first director in Form INC-9, the address for correspondence till the registered office is established, the particulars of subscribers and first directors with proof of identity, and the particulars of first directors with their DIN and consent in Form DIR-2. Section 7(2) provides that the Registrar shall on the basis of the documents filed register the memorandum and articles and issue a Certificate of Incorporation in Form INC-11 with a Corporate Identity Number. The CIN under Section 7(3) is the company's unique identifier for all subsequent statutory filings.
Name reservation under SPICe+ Part A
RUN versus integrated SPICe+ Part A
SPICe+ Part A, introduced in February 2020, integrates name-reservation with incorporation in a single web-form workflow on the MCA-21 portal. The applicant can apply Part A standalone (to reserve a name without immediately incorporating) or in continuation with Part B (to reserve and incorporate together). The earlier RUN service (Reserve Unique Name) continues for change-of-name applications but is no longer used for fresh incorporation. Two name proposals can be submitted ranked by preference, with a description of the proposed business activity and NIC-2008 codes. The CRC examines under Section 4(2) and Rule 8 and approves, rejects, or marks for resubmission within two working days. Approved names are reserved for twenty days from approval under Section 4(5), within which Part B must be filed.
Trade Marks Registry cross-search
Even if a proposed name clears the MCA-21 Section 4(2) test, the applicant must independently search the Trade Marks Registry (ipindia.gov.in) for prior trade mark filings in relevant classes. Rule 8B specifically prohibits names that infringe a registered trade mark or pending application — the CRC will reject on this ground if the Trade Marks Registry data is brought to its attention. The Bombay High Court in Bloomberg Finance LP v Prafull Saklecha [2014 (57) PTC 25 (Bom)] confirmed that a registered trade mark holder can compel a corporate-name change even after MCA registration. Prudent practice is to undertake a Trade Marks public-search and, where the proposed name is to become the brand, file a trade-mark application in parallel with SPICe+ Part A.
Resubmission and rejection consequences
If SPICe+ Part A is marked for resubmission, the applicant has fifteen days to file a revised name proposal addressing the CRC's objections. Two resubmission rounds are permitted before the application lapses. If the application is rejected outright, the fee of ₹1,000 is forfeited and a fresh Part A application must be filed. Where the rejection appears arbitrary — for example, a Section 4(2) resemblance call that the applicant disputes — the recourse is to file a representation to the Regional Director under Section 458 read with Rule 38(7), or to challenge the order before the National Company Law Tribunal. In practice, the cost-benefit usually favours filing a fresh Part A with a modified name rather than pursuing appellate remedies.
SPICe+ Part B — the integrated incorporation form
Structure and linked applications
SPICe+ Part B (INC-32) is the integrated incorporation form launched in February 2020 that consolidates incorporation, DIN allotment for first-time directors, PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, Profession Tax (in select States), Bank Account opening (in collaboration with partner banks), and GSTIN (through linked AGILE-PRO-S). The form captures the company name (carried forward from Part A or freshly entered), registered office details, share capital structure, subscribers, directors, NIC codes, and related declarations. The accompanying webform AGILE-PRO-S (INC-35) captures the GSTIN, EPFO, ESIC and Profession Tax applications. INC-9 (now integrated within SPICe+) captures the subscriber and first-director affidavit. The MOA and AOA are attached as e-MOA (INC-33) and e-AOA (INC-34) respectively.
Capital and shareholding details
Part B captures the authorised share capital, the subscribed share capital, and the paid-up share capital. The authorised capital is the ceiling up to which the company can issue shares without amending the MOA under Section 13 and 61; the subscribed capital is the portion of authorised capital that the subscribers have committed to take; the paid-up capital is the portion of subscribed capital actually paid in. There is no minimum paid-up capital requirement after the Companies (Amendment) Act 2015 deletion of the proviso to Section 2(68) — companies can incorporate with paid-up capital of ₹1 lakh, ₹10,000 or any nominal figure. The face value per share is typically ₹10 though ₹1 and ₹100 are also common. Each subscriber's allocation is captured against name, address, PAN, occupation, and number of shares subscribed.
Subscriber and director KYC
For each subscriber and first director, Part B requires PAN, Aadhaar, current address with proof (utility bill / bank statement not older than two months), permanent address, occupation, educational qualification, place of birth, nationality, date of birth, father's / spouse's name, photograph, and signature. For directors, additional fields include DIN (or PAN for first-time DIN allotment through SPICe+), DIR-2 consent, DIR-8 declaration, designation (Managing Director / Whole-time Director / Director / Independent Director — though independent directors are not mandatory for Private Limiteds under Section 149(4)), and category (promoter / non-promoter). Foreign-resident directors require apostilled / consularised proof. The integrated KYC capture eliminates the need for the older separate DIR-3 and DIN allotment under DIR-3.
Drafting the MOA and AOA
AOA — Table F adoption and customisation
Section 5(6) read with Schedule I Table F provides a model Articles of Association for a company limited by shares. A company can adopt Table F in its entirety, adopt with modifications, or draft a bespoke set of articles. Bespoke articles are essential where shareholders' agreement provisions need to be entrenched — reserved matters, drag-along, tag-along, anti-dilution, pre-emptive rights, transfer restrictions, board composition rights, quorum and voting rights, and dispute resolution. The Supreme Court in V B Rangaraj v V B Gopalakrishnan [1992 1 SCC 160] confirmed that share-transfer restrictions binding on the company must be in the AOA, not merely in a shareholders' agreement. The e-AOA (INC-34) accommodates bespoke clauses up to the form-field limits; for longer articles, a PDF attachment is permitted.
MOA name and registered office clauses
The Memorandum of Association under Section 4(1) must state the name of the company with 'Private Limited' as the last words for a Private Limited (or 'OPC Private Limited' for One Person Company), the State in which the registered office is to be situated, the objects for which the company is proposed to be incorporated, the liability of members (limited by shares for the standard Private Limited form), and the amount of authorised share capital divided into shares of a fixed amount. The name clause must match the SPICe+ Part A approval. The registered office clause names the State only — the precise address is declared in INC-22 within thirty days of incorporation under Section 12(2). The State determines the jurisdictional ROC for ongoing filings and the applicable State stamp duty on the MOA.
Object clause — main and ancillary objects
The object clause under Section 4(1)(c) was structurally simplified by the 2013 Act — the older 'main objects', 'objects incidental or ancillary' and 'other objects' trichotomy was collapsed into a single 'objects clause'. In practice, prudent drafting still separates the matters expressly authorised (main objects, listed as III(A)) from matters necessary to carry out the main objects (ancillary, listed as III(B)). The objects must be specific enough to satisfy the doctrine of ultra vires (Ashbury Railway Carriage v Riche [1875] LR 7 HL 653) — acts beyond the objects are void and cannot be ratified by shareholders. The objects should also align with the NIC-2008 codes declared in SPICe+ Part B and AGILE-PRO-S to avoid future reconciliation issues with GST, EPFO and sectoral regulators.
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