Expert Guide
A complete walkthrough — Pvt Limited Registration
Localised for Siruseri, Chennai — where IT consultancies and software-services arms file GST predominantly under SAC 9983 and claim export-of-services LUT refunds.
Reading this guide locally — Across Siruseri, around the SIPCOT IT Park catchment of Siruseri. Practitioners note that Siruseri businesses in the it services arm find that businesses here routinely handle export-of-services GST refunds under Rule 89 and SOFTEX form reconciliation.
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.
Section 184 director interest disclosure
Section 184(2) contract-specific disclosure
Section 184(2) requires a director who is in any way, whether directly or indirectly, concerned or interested in a contract or arrangement that is proposed to be entered into by the company to disclose the nature of his concern or interest at the meeting of the Board at which the contract or arrangement is discussed. The interested director shall not participate in such meeting — Section 184(2) proviso. The disclosure is in addition to the general MBP-1 disclosure and is contract-specific. Section 184(3) allows the contract to be voidable at the option of the company if the interested director participates. Section 184(4) prescribes penalty of imprisonment up to one year or fine ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh on the defaulting director. The decriminalisation amendment of 2020 converted imprisonment to fine for first-time defaults.
Interaction with Section 188 related-party transactions
Section 188 governs related-party transactions — sale, purchase or supply of goods / materials, services, leasing of property, appointment of agent for purchase or sale, appointment of related party to office or place of profit, and underwriting of securities. RPTs require board approval and, beyond prescribed thresholds (under Rule 15 of the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules 2014), member approval through ordinary resolution. The MBP-1 disclosure under Section 184(1) is the antecedent that identifies the related-party population; Section 188 then governs the substantive transaction. Audit Committee approval is also required for listed companies and prescribed unlisted companies under Section 177. The Board's Report under Section 134(3)(h) must disclose all RPTs entered into during the year in Form AOC-2.
Register of contracts and arrangements
Section 189 requires every company to maintain a Register of Contracts or Arrangements in which directors are interested, in Form MBP-4 under Rule 16 of the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules 2014. The Register records every contract or arrangement that requires disclosure under Section 184(2) or approval under Section 188. Entries must be made within seven days of the relevant board meeting. The Register is placed before the next board meeting and signed by all directors present. It is preserved permanently and is open to inspection by members at the registered office during business hours under Section 189(4). Failure to maintain the Register attracts penalty under Section 189(6). The Register, the MBP-1 disclosures, and AOC-2 together form the documentary backbone of RPT compliance.
Share capital structure design
Authorised subscribed and paid-up capital
The Companies Act 2013 retains the three-tier capital structure inherited from the 1956 Act — authorised, subscribed, paid-up. The authorised capital is the maximum capital the company can raise without amending the MOA under Section 13 and 61. The subscribed capital is the portion that subscribers have committed to take. The paid-up capital is the portion actually paid by subscribers. The Companies (Amendment) Act 2015 removed the ₹1 lakh minimum paid-up capital for Private Limiteds (and ₹5 lakh for Public Limiteds), making the choice of paid-up capital a commercial decision. The face value per share is also unconstrained — ₹10 is conventional but ₹1, ₹100 and other denominations are equally valid. The authorised capital determines the SPICe+ stamp duty under State Stamp Acts and the initial MCA fee.
Equity and preference share classes
Section 43 recognises two kinds of share capital — equity share capital (with voting rights or with differential voting rights as to dividend, voting or otherwise) and preference share capital. Equity shares with differential voting rights under Section 43(a)(ii) are subject to Rule 4 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules 2014. Preference shares carry preference over equity for dividend and on winding up, but are typically non-voting under Section 47(2) (with exceptions for unpaid dividend periods). Preference shares can be cumulative or non-cumulative, participating or non-participating, convertible or non-convertible, redeemable or irredeemable. Section 55 prohibits issuance of irredeemable preference shares; redemption period cannot exceed twenty years (thirty years for infrastructure project companies). The class composition is set out in the MOA and elaborated in the AOA.
Sweat equity and ESOP planning
Section 54 read with Rule 8 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules 2014 permits issuance of sweat equity shares to employees and directors at a discount or for consideration other than cash, for know-how, intellectual property or value additions. The issuance requires a special resolution and is capped at 15% of paid-up capital per year (5% for startups in their first ten years under the Startup India relaxation). Section 62(1)(b) permits ESOP issuance to employees through schemes approved by special resolution. The ESOP scheme is governed by SEBI guidelines for listed companies and by Rule 12 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules 2014 for unlisted companies. Trust-based and direct-allotment models are both permitted. Authorised-capital headroom at incorporation is critical for ESOP planning.
Stamp duty on incorporation by State
Post-incorporation stamp duty events
Beyond incorporation, several events trigger State stamp duty: increase in authorised capital under Section 61 (additional duty on the incremental amount, paid with SH-7); issuance of share certificates under Section 56 and Rule 6 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules 2014 (stamp duty under Article 19 of the Stamp Act, typically ₹1 per ₹1,000 of share value, payable within thirty days of issuance); transfer of shares (stamp duty at 0.015% of consideration or value, whichever is higher, under the Indian Stamp (Amendment) Act 2019 read with the Indian Stamp (Collection of Stamp-duty through Stock Exchanges, Clearing Corporations and Depositories) Rules 2019 — applies through the depository for demat shares); issuance of debentures (0.005% of face value); and registration of charges (varies by State).
State Stamp Acts and Schedule I
Stamp duty on the MOA, AOA and the share-capital allotment at incorporation is levied under the Indian Stamp Act 1899 as applied to each State, or under the State-specific Stamp Act where the State has enacted its own (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu have variations). The duty is typically computed as a percentage of authorised share capital, with a minimum and maximum cap. SPICe+ has an integrated stamp-duty payment module that calculates the duty based on the State of registered office declared in Part A and remits it to the State Treasury. The duty applies once at incorporation; subsequent increases in authorised capital under Section 61 attract additional duty on the incremental amount, payable along with the SH-7 filing.
Tamil Nadu duty structure
In Tamil Nadu, the Indian Stamp Act 1899 as amended by the Tamil Nadu Government applies. The stamp duty on Memorandum of Association under Article 39 of Schedule I to the Indian Stamp Act (Tamil Nadu) is ₹200. The stamp duty on Articles of Association under Article 10 is 0.5% of authorised share capital subject to a maximum of ₹5,00,000. For incorporation with authorised capital of ₹1 lakh, the total stamp duty is approximately ₹700; for authorised capital of ₹10 lakh, approximately ₹5,200; for authorised capital of ₹1 crore, approximately ₹50,200. The duty is paid through the SPICe+ integrated module to the Tamil Nadu Treasury. Where additional places of business are in Tamil Nadu, no further State-specific stamp duty is triggered at the incorporation stage — INC-22 changes attract a flat ₹100 duty.
What Siruseri clients usually ask next: Closer to Siruseri, supporting the IT-services workforce that commutes here from OMR Velachery and Anna Nagar, which is why where IT consultancies and software-services arms file GST predominantly under SAC 9983 and claim export-of-services LUT refunds; for Siruseri IT-services firms managing export-LUT cycles alongside payroll and TDS.