Form Spice+ and Agile-Pro: An Initiative by MCA for Ease of Doing Business

Deepti Shikha

04 Mar, 2020

MCA or Ministry of Corporate Affairs has simplified the process for the incorporation of Companies. It notified two new forms ‘ Spice+ ‘ and ‘Agile-Pro’ to ease the process of doing business. Through this notification, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has amended the Companies (Incorporation) Amendment Rule, 2020. To simplify the incorporation of the company, a new form Spice+ and Agile-pro is introduced to replace the existing Spice form an Agile form. The services of the new forms are applicable to new incorporations with effect from 15 February 2020. The new SPICE+ form provides all the services right from the reservation of name for the company till the opening of the Bank account post-incorporation.

Salient Features of the New Spice+ Form

• Spice+ Form will offer ten services by three Central Government Ministries and Government Departments.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

 Maharashtra State Government.

•  Maharashtra State Government.
• Spice+ form would be an Integrated Web Form to be filed on MCA Portal.
• This form is divided into two parts:



• Since it is a web-based form, the form would be filed through a Front office dashboard along with other applicable linked forms.
• Incorporation applications done in Part B after the reservation of name in Part A can be submitted as a process in continuation of Part A of Spice+. The stakeholders can directly login on the dashboard without even entering the SRN (Service Request Number) of the approved name. The accepted name will be displayed on the panel, and a click on the same will take the user for completing of the application through a hyperlink that will be available on the application number in the new dashboard.
• Information entered once can be saved and modified in form Spice+.
• Complete checking of form and Pre-scrutiny validations except the DSC validation will happen on Spice + form itself.
• Once the SPICe+ form is filled with all the relevant details, the same would be then converted into pdf, with just a click of the mouse button, for affixing DSCs.
• Digitally signed applications can be uploaded with the linked forms as per the existing process.
• Changes or modifications to the SPICe+ forms after generating pdf and affixing DSCs can also be done by editing the same web form application which has been save by generating the updated pdf, affixing DSCs and uploading the same.
•  Registration for EPFO and ESIC is mandatory for all new companies incorporated with effect from 15 February 2020.
• Professional Tax Registration shall be mandatory for all new companies incorporated in the State of Maharashtra.
• It is mandatory for all companies incorporated through Spice + forms to open the Company’s Bank account through the Agile-Pro linked web forms.
• Declaration by the Subscribers and first Directors in form INC-9 shall be auto-generated in pdf format and must be submitted only in Electronic form in all cases except:
• The total number of subscribers and directors is greater than 20.
• Any such subscribers and directors have neither Director Identification Number nor PAN number.

What are the Services of Spice+ Form?

The services of the Spice + form are as follows:

1. Name reservation for new companies.
2. Incorporation of business
3. Director Identification Number (DIN) allotment
4. Mandatory issue of PAN card
5. Mandatory issue of TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number
6. Mandatory issue of EPFO registration
7. Mandatory issue of ESIC registration
8. Mandatory issue of professional tax registration in Maharashtra
9. Mandatorily opening of  bank account for the company 
10. Allotment of GSTIN (optional)

Required Details for the Spice+ Form

The SPICe+ form requires the details mentioned below:

• Type, class, and category of the Company.
• Structure of the company including Articles of Association, details of the authorized and subscribed share capital and details of the number of members.
• Original address of the company.
• Details of all the subscribers and/or directors
• Particulars of the one-person company or OPC, nomination and details of the nominee.
• Details of payment of stamp duty paid.
• Information on PAN card or TAN Number.

What are the Attachments Required for Spice+ Forms?

The following attachments are necessary for submitting the SPICe+ forms:

• Articles of Association.
• Memorandum of Association.
• Original address proof of the office.
• Declaration made by the first subscribers and directors.
• In case of foreign body corporate a copy of the certificate of incorporation.
• Copy of the utility bills.
• A resolution passed by a foreign company, Promoter Company or unregistered company.
• Consent provided by nominees.
• Address proof and identity proof of the subscribers and nominees.
• Identity proof, along with residential proof of the applicant/applicants.
• Declaration done in Form INC-14 and Form INC-15.

Difference between Form Spice and Spice+ Form

The newly introduced Spice+ form is very similar to the already existing spice forms. The Spice + forms provide some extra services apart from the spice form. The significant difference is:

• Spice is an eform and Spice + is a web integrated forms.
• Spice+ forms save time and cost for starting a business in India.
• SPICe+ forms are part of various initiatives and commitments of the Government of India towards the ease of doing business in India.

Takeaway

Companies getting incorporated through Spice+ forms with an authorized capital up to Rs.15,00,000 will continue to enjoy zero filing fee concession. From 23^rd February 2020 onward, RUN service is applicable only for the change of name of an existing company. Changes or modifications in SPICe+ form even after generating pdf and affixing DSCs can be done up to only five times by editing the same web application which has been saved and uploading the same. In case of any technical problems like uploading of forms, pre-scrutiny errors, DSC related, payment related queries, etc. the ticket can be raised on www.mca.gov.in in my services section and one needs to await a resolution. Hence, all newly incorporated companies can save time, procedures and money through Spice+ form and Agile Pro. 

The official notification can be found in the given link: http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/rule_22022020.pdf

Also, Read: Benefits of Registering a New Business in India by Using SPICe.