How to Register a Company in India: The SPICe+ Process Step by Step

01What SPICe+ Is and What It Bundles

SPICe+ (pronounced “SPICe Plus”, Form INC-32) is the single online form on the MCA portal used to incorporate a company in India. You do not visit any office; the entire filing is digital. The form has two parts: Part A reserves your company name, and Part B does the actual incorporation.

The reason SPICe+ matters is that it bundles many registrations into one application. Through the linked AGILE-PRO-S form (INC-35) and the other linked forms, a single SPICe+ filing gives you:

• DIN (Director Identification Number) for new directors
• PAN and TAN for the company
• EPFO and ESIC registration (provident fund and employee insurance)
• Professional Tax registration (in Maharashtra)
• A company bank account
• GSTIN, if you opt for it during the filing

The constitutional documents ride along with SPICe+: the MOA is INC-33 (Memorandum of Association, your objects), the AOA is INC-34 (Articles of Association, your internal rules), and the INC-9 is a declaration by the first directors and subscribers. Each director and subscriber signs with a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).

02Before You Start: People, Capital and Address

Three things decide whether your SPICe+ filing goes smoothly: who the directors and shareholders are, how you set capital, and what address you use. Get these right before you open the form.

Directors and shareholders

A Private Limited company needs a minimum of 2 directors and 2 shareholders, and they can be the same two people. At least one director must be resident in India (stayed in India 182 days or more in the previous financial year). An OPC needs only 1, an LLP needs 2 partners.

Authorized vs paid-up capital

There is no minimum paid-up capital; that requirement was removed in 2015. You do still declare two numbers, and founders confuse them:

• Authorized capital is the ceiling of shares the company is allowed to issue. Keep it up to ₹15 lakh to avoid MCA registration fees on capital.
• Paid-up capital is what shareholders actually put in. This can be small (even a few thousand rupees) and must later be deposited into the company bank account.

Registered office

The registered office can be a residential or home address, or a virtual office, as long as you can produce a recent utility bill and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the owner. If the address is not ready at incorporation, you can incorporate first and file INC-22 within 30 days with the address.

03How to Register a Company in India: The Steps

Here is the full process to register a company in India, in order. For a resident-owned Private Limited company with documents ready, the whole sequence usually runs about 7 to 15 working days.

Every proposed director and subscriber needs a Class 3 DSC, because the incorporation forms are signed digitally. You get one from a licensed certifying authority with identity and address proof and a video KYC. This is the first thing to arrange, as nothing else can be signed without it.

File SPICe+ Part A to reserve your company name. You can propose two names in order of preference. The name must be unique, not match an existing company, LLP or trademark, and follow the naming rules. You can file Part A on its own or together with Part B. (We cover rejection reasons in the next section.)

In Part B you fill in the company details: authorized and paid-up capital, the directors and shareholders, share distribution and the registered office. DIN is allotted here to directors who do not already have one (up to three new directors), and PAN and TAN are applied for automatically. Upload the directors’ photographs and proofs.

Attach the MOA (INC-33) with your business objects, the AOA (INC-34) with your internal rules, and the INC-9 declaration. The linked AGILE-PRO-S (INC-35) form handles EPFO, ESIC, Professional Tax, the bank account and optional GST. This is where most resubmissions happen, so check every field against your supporting documents.

All subscribers and directors sign the forms with their DSC. You then pay the MCA fees and state stamp duty and submit. The Registrar of Companies (ROC) reviews the filing, and on approval issues the Certificate of Incorporation (with your CIN), along with the company PAN and TAN. That certificate is the moment your company legally exists.

04Why Company Names Get Rejected in SPICe+ Part A

Name rejection is the most common early delay. The registrar rejects a name when it clashes with something already on record or breaks a naming rule. The frequent reasons are below.

• Too similar to an existing name. If a company or LLP already has an identical or closely resembling name, yours is rejected. Plurals, spacing and minor spelling changes do not make a name different.
• It matches a registered trademark. A name that conflicts with a trademark can be refused. Search the trademark register, not just the company register.
• Restricted or prohibited words. Words like Bank, Insurance, Stock Exchange, or words implying government patronage need specific approval. Avoid them unless you have it.
• Too generic or descriptive. A purely descriptive name (for example, just your product category) is often refused for lacking distinctiveness.
• Objects do not match the name. If the name suggests an activity that your MOA objects do not support, expect questions.

05Cost and Timeline: Resident vs Non-Resident

Cost and timeline are the two questions every founder asks. They differ a lot depending on whether the founders are resident in India or non-resident (foreign).

Beyond the MCA fee, you still pay for each DSC, state-specific stamp duty (which varies by state and by capital), and professional fees if you use a CA or CS. Always verify current figures on mca.gov.in, since fees and stamp duty change.

06Do It Yourself on the MCA Portal vs Hiring a CA or CS

Yes, you can register a company in India yourself on the MCA portal. SPICe+ is a self-service form. Whether you should depends on how simple your case is and how much your time is worth.

For a straightforward two-founder resident company, doing it yourself is realistic. The moment you have a non-resident shareholder, an investor-ready Articles of Association, an ESOP pool, or anything cross-border, a CA or CS pays for itself, both in avoided resubmissions and in getting the AOA right the first time.

07Founder Watch-Outs During and After Registration

The form is only part of the job. These are the mistakes we see most often, and each one is avoidable.

• Treating the certificate as the finish line. Deadlines start immediately: first board meeting and first auditor (file ADT-1) within 30 days, share certificates within 60 days (with stamp duty within 30 days of issue), and INC-20A within 180 days. You cannot start business or borrow until INC-20A is filed.
• Not depositing the paid-up capital. The subscribed paid-up capital must actually go into the company bank account. Auditors and investors check this.
• Forgetting IP assignment. Founders and contractors should formally assign their IP (code, designs, brand) to the company. If a founder personally owns the IP, investors flag it in due diligence.
• Missing FC-GPR for foreign shareholders. File it with the RBI within 30 days of allotment, at a FEMA-compliant price. This is non-negotiable for non-resident investment.
• Choosing the name without a trademark search. An approved company name is not a trademark. Check both registers and consider filing the brand as a trademark.
• Ignoring later registrations. GST (mandatory above ₹40 lakh goods / ₹20 lakh services, or for inter-state and e-commerce), Professional Tax in some states, Shops and Establishment, and free DPIIT (Startup India) and Udyam (MSME) recognition.

08Frequently Asked Questions