As part of Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs would be shortly notifying & deploying a new Web Form christened ‘SPICe+’ (pronounced ‘Spice Plus’) replacing the existing SPICe form, for reservation of names and incorporation of a company. Earlier, one had to upload PDFs. This is now replaced with the new and simple web-form and an updated process flow to make the process simpler.
What is SPICe?
It is an abbreviation for “Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically” and as the name suggests it is an application form for incorporating/registering a company with Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
What kinds of Companies may register?
Private limited company, Public Limited Company, One Person Company, Nidhi Company, Section 8 Company or Producer Company.
Kinds of services and departments involved?
SPICe+ would offer 10 services by 3 Central Govt Ministries & Departments.
1.) Ministry of Corporate Affairs
2.) Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance
3.) One State Govt. (Maharashtra)
Applicable for?
All new company incorporations w.e.f 15th February 2020
Features:
1. SPICe+ would be an integrated Web Form.
2. SPICe+ would have two parts viz.:
a. Part A-for Name reservation for new companies; and
b. Part B offering a bouquet of services viz.
(i) Incorporation
(ii) DIN allotment
(iii) Mandatory issue of PAN, TAN, EPFO Registration, ESIC Registration
(iv) Mandatory issue of Profession Tax registration (Maharashtra)
(v) Mandatory Opening of Bank Account for the Company and
(vi) Allotment of GSTIN (if so applied for)
Is it compulsory to submit both parts of SPICe+ together?
No,
- Users may either choose to submit Part-A for reserving a name first and thereafter submit Part B for incorporation & other services, or;
- File Part A and B together at one go for incorporating a new company and availing the bouquet of services as above.
Points to keep in mind while filling in the form:
- Incorporation applications (Part B) after name reservation (In Part A) can be submitted as a seamless process in continuation of Part A of SPICe+.
- Stakeholders will not be required to enter the SRN (Service Request Number) of the approved name as the approved Name will be prominently displayed on the Dashboard.
- A new and user-friendly Dashboard on the Front Office (user interface of the MCA) is being created for company incorporation application (SPICe+ and linked forms as applicable) and a click on the same will take the user for continuation of the application through a hyperlink that will be available on the SRN/application number in the new dashboard.
- Resubmission of applications for company name reservation and/or incorporation shall also be handled through the application number/Name applied for link on the new dashboard.
- A hyperlink will be available for the SRN/application number, so as to enable easy resubmission, wherever required.
- From 15th February 2020 onwards, RUN (Reserve Unique Name) service would be applicable only for ‘change of name’ of an existing company.
- The new web form would Facilitate On-screen filing and real time data validation for seamless incorporation of companies.
- The approved name and related incorporation details as submitted in Part A, would be automatically Pre-filled in all linked forms also viz., AGILE-PRO, eMoA, eAoA, URC1, INC-9 (as applicable)
- For ensuring ease while filing, SPICe+ will be structured into various sections.
- Information once entered can be saved and modified.
- All Check form and Pre-scrutiny validations (except DSC validation) will happen on webform itself.
- Once the SPICe+ is filled completely with all relevant details, the same would then have to be converted into pdf format.
- All digitally signed applications can then be uploaded along with the linked forms as per the existing process.
- Changes/modifications to SPICe+ (even after generating pdf and affixing DSCs), can also be done by editing the same web form application which has been saved, generating the updated pdf affixing DSCs and uploading the same.
- DSC validation and other validations will happen at Upload Level.
- Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be mandatory for all new companies incorporated w.e.f 15 February 2020 and no EPFO & ESIC registration nos. shall be separately issued by the respective agencies.
- Registration for Profession Tax shall also be mandatory for all new companies incorporated in the State of Maharashtra w.e.f 15th February 2020.
- All new companies incorporated through SPICe+ (w.e.f 15th February 2020) would also be mandatorily required to apply for opening the company’s Bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked web form.
- Declaration by all Subscribers and first Directors in INC-9 shall be auto-generated in pdf format and would have to be submitted only in Electronic form in all cases, except where:
(i) Total number of subscribers and/or directors is greater than 20 and/or
(ii) Any such subscribers and/or directors has neither DIN nor PAN.
Other Updates from the Ministry:
- Ministry has amended the
Rule 38(2) of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. With the issue of this
notification, zero fee is to be charged by MCA for all incorporations with
authorized capital up to INR 15,00,000.
- Name Availability Rules have been simplified by MCA though Companies (Incorporation) Fifth Amendments Rules, 2019. These amended rules provide ample illustrations to avoid ambiguity in name reservation. Consequently, name rejection rate has fallen and the time taken for approval has reduced. This has resulted in speed, greater transparency, uniformity and eradication of discretion.
- The Ministry of Corporate Affairs launched the Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically (SPICe) e-Form in place of INC-29. Further, the Ministry has also integrated the MCA21 System with the CBDT for issue of PAN and TAN to a company incorporated using (SPICe). Stakeholders submit applications for PAN and TAN at the time of submitting applications for incorporation through SPICe. The PAN/TAN allotted by Income Tax Department are being affixed on the Certificate of Incorporation of the company. Stakeholders can apply for DIN (Director Identification Number) through SPICe up to three directors. This has resulted in reduction in the number of processes and time taken for Starting a Business in the country.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
