Fast Track Company Registration under SPICe+ in India

Ashish M. Shaji

20 Oct, 2020

The fast track company registration has been made easier and simpler by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has done many amendments to simplify the process of Company Registration in India.

The Government has brought in a new simple application to further ease the process of company incorporation. The new web form SPICe+ integrates various services from different ministries and departments.

Introduction of SPICe form

Instituting SPICe is one of the steps to simplify the process of incorporation of companies and to promote the businesses to register themselves as a company. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs in a notification dated October 1, 2016, launched new e-forms to simplify and speed up the Company Registration Process under Companies Act, 2013.

SPICE: SPICE means “Simplified Performa for Company Registration Electronically”. SPICe does incorporation of a company under a single application form.

In India, approximately, more than one lakh companies are incorporated every year. Approximately, 9,000 companies have been registered under SPICe on the Portal of Ministry of Corporate Affairs in the last few days. The MCA came up with a new form SPICe+ replacing the existing SPICe form.

Fast Track Company Registration under SPICE+

• The SPICe+ feature is provided under MCA services^[1];
• Click on SPICe+;
• Choose new application, in case you have an existing application then choose existing application;
• Feed in the application number and the proposed or approved name;
• You may submit Part A for reservation of name or proceed with incorporation;
• When you proceed with incorporation, Part B is enabled;
• The details regarding registration is to be entered;
• Upload the documents for registration;
• Then download PDF of Part B submitted for affixing the DSC and for filling up the linked forms;
• The linked forms include AGILE PRO, SPICe+ MOA and SPICe+ AOA, URC-1 and INC-9. Part B can then be along with linked forms uploaded on MCA portal;
• A service request number is generated in order to make payment for company incorporation. When the payment is successful, the forms are processed.

Services provided by SPICe+ Form

The new integrated web form provides for the following:

Part A- Name Reservation

Part B-

• Company Incorporation;
• DIN Application;
• PAN and TAN Application;
• GSTIN Application;
• EPFO Registration;
• ESIC Registration;
• Opening bank account for the company.

Attachment required for SPICe+

• Affidavit and Declaration by First Subscriber(s) and Director(s).
• Proof of Address;
• Copies of utility bills (not older than 2 months);
• NOC from sole proprietor/partners/other associates/existing company;
• Proof of identity and residential address of subscribers;
• Proof of identity and residential address of Directors;
• Memorandum of Association;
• Articles of Association;
• Declaration in Form INC- 14;
• Declaration in Form INC- 15;
• Attachment- Part- A
• A copy of approval in case the proposed name contains any word(s) or expression(s) which require approval from central government.
• If a proposed name is based on a registered trademark or is a subject matter of an application pending for registration under the Trade Marks Act, then it is mandatory to attach the trademark registration certificate or trademark application copy.

Advantages of SPICe+

• It has made incorporation of companies easy, simple and hassle-free.
• With the advent of new dashboard for SPICe+ form and linked forms, the name that is approved shall be displayed thereby eliminating the requirement of doing an SRN search.
• SPICe + apart from being an updated type of existing SPICe, the form is capable of serving various needs such as Name Reservation, Incorporation, etc.
• SPICe+ shall be structured to different sections to ensure ease while filing.
• It is a single window application.
• This integrated web form is expected to save lengthy procedures, save time and cut expenses for starting a new business in India.

Essential points to be known about SPICe+ Form

• It would be an integrated web based form;
• It would have two parts- Part A and Part B.
• A new and user friendly dashboard has been created for company incorporation application;
• The new web form will facilitate on screen filing and real time data validation for incorporating seamlessly;
• Information once entered can be modified;
• All check form as well as pre scrutiny validations will take place on web form itself (except validation of DSC);
• All new companies that are incorporated through SPICe+ will be required to mandatorily apply for opening the bank account of company through AGILE PRO linked web form.

Conclusion

SPICe+ has simplified the process of incorporation of a company. As it is a single window form, it is speedy and it saves the cost of incorporation and also saves time. Approximately, 9,000 companies are being registered every month.  The complete procedure for incorporation under SPICe+ can be done within a few days time if you have all the required documents.

Read our article:E-Form MGT-14: Its Concept and the Procedure for Filing it