Complete Pvt Ltd registration with Certificate of Incorporation and bank account opening.
A private limited company is a separate legal person registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which means the business owns its own assets, carries its own liabilities and survives changes in ownership — and it is the only structure institutional investors will fund. What comes with that is a compliance floor that does not scale down: annual filings, board meetings, statutory audit and director KYC are due whether the company traded that year or not.
Who this is for
7-15 day registration
Limited liability
Easy funding
Professional credibility
Documents you'll need
PAN and Aadhaar of all directors
Passport-size photographs
Proof of registered office address
Utility bill not older than two months
No-objection certificate from the property owner
The process
What we actually do
1
We check whether a company is actually the right structure
An LLP has most of the liability protection with materially lighter compliance, and a proprietorship has none of either. If you are not raising capital or issuing equity, the company's annual cost is often paying for optionality you will not use. We say so before the incorporation rather than after the first audit.
2
We get the name reserved
Names are rejected for resembling an existing company or a registered trade mark, and for using restricted words. We check both registers first and file RUN or the SPICe+ Part A name application with alternatives ranked, because a rejected name costs the fee and the time again.
3
We obtain DSC and DIN for the directors
Every director needs a digital signature certificate, and DIN is allotted through the incorporation form itself for first-time directors. Directors who are not resident in India need their documents apostilled, which is the step that most often adds a fortnight nobody planned for.
4
We draft the MOA and AOA to fit the business
The objects clause governs what the company may lawfully do, and a template one drafted for a different business is a problem when a bank or an investor reads it. The articles set out how shares move, how decisions are made and what happens if a founder leaves.
5
We file SPICe+ with everything attached to it
The integrated form covers incorporation, PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, professional tax where applicable and the bank account opening. Filing them together is faster and avoids the mismatch between registrations that causes trouble later.
6
We complete what falls due immediately after
The commencement of business declaration in INC-20A is due within 180 days and is the one most often missed — a company that has not filed it cannot legally begin operations, and the penalty is substantial. The first auditor is appointed within thirty days of incorporation.
Who this is for
Founders who intend to raise external investment, where a company is effectively the only fundable structure
Businesses wanting the liability of the owners limited to what they put in
Teams issuing equity to co-founders or employees, which needs a share capital structure
Businesses whose customers are large companies with vendor policies requiring an incorporated supplier
Anyone who needs the business to continue independently of who owns it at the time
How long it takes
Ten to fifteen working days in a straightforward case, from documents complete to the certificate of incorporation. Name approval is the variable — a rejected name adds a full cycle. A foreign director or a foreign body corporate as subscriber adds apostille time, which is outside anyone's control.
If you do nothing
A dormant company does not become free — the annual filings remain due, the additional fee runs at ₹100 a day per form with no ceiling, and after three years of default every director is disqualified across every company they hold office in. Striking the company off is itself a filing that requires the arrears to be regularised first. The cheapest moment to deal with an unused company is always now.
The law, in figures
Dates, thresholds and sections
Every figure below carries the provision it comes from, so it can be checked.
What
Figure
Source
Minimum directors and shareholders
2 directors and 2 shareholders; at least one director resident in India
Sections 149 and 3, Companies Act 2013
Minimum paid-up capital
No statutory minimum
Companies (Amendment) Act 2015
Commencement of business declaration
INC-20A within 180 days of incorporation
Section 10A, Companies Act 2013
First auditor appointment
Within 30 days of incorporation
Section 139(6), Companies Act 2013
Annual filings
AOC-4 within 30 days and MGT-7 within 60 days of the AGM
Sections 137 and 92, Companies Act 2013
Director KYC
DIR-3 KYC annually by 30 September
Rule 12A, Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules
What usually goes wrong
Incorporating a company for a business that will never raise capital, and paying the annual compliance cost for years
Missing INC-20A, which leaves the company unable to commence business lawfully
Choosing a name that resembles a registered trade mark, which survives incorporation and fails later at a rebrand
Writing an objects clause too narrow for what the business actually does, then needing an amendment to open a bank account
Forgetting director KYC, which deactivates the DIN and blocks every filing that needs that director's signature
Treating the company's bank account as the founder's own, which undoes the separation the structure exists to create
What non-compliance costs
Failure to file INC-20A: ₹50,000 on the company and ₹1,000 per day on each officer in default, under section 10A(2)
Late annual filing: additional fee of ₹100 per day per form, with no cap
Director KYC not filed: DIN deactivated and a ₹5,000 fee to reactivate
Directors of a company that fails to file for three consecutive years are disqualified for five years under section 164(2)
These are statutory amounts, not our fees. What we charge depends on your situation and is quoted before any work starts.
Not to be confused with
These come up in the same conversation and are routinely treated as the same thing. They are not.
LLP
An LLP gives the same limited liability with far lighter compliance and no statutory audit below turnover thresholds — but it cannot issue equity shares, which rules it out for anyone raising institutional investment.
One Person Company
An OPC has a single member and suits a solo founder, but it must convert to a private limited company once turnover or capital crosses the prescribed limits.
Common questions
Should I start a private limited company, an LLP, or a proprietorship?
A proprietorship suits a small solo business with no outside investment, an LLP suits a professional partnership that wants liability protection without heavy compliance, and a private limited company is necessary if you intend to raise investment. The real question is liability and funding rather than tax: a proprietor's personal assets answer for business debts, and no investor will put money into anything other than a company. Compliance cost rises in the same order.
