PUBLIC COMPANY

Public Limited Company is preferred for medium and large sized businesses in India if they are planning to raise funds from the general public.

The primary advantage of a Public Limited Company is that it can raise capital from the public by issuing shares to investors in the form of IPO (Initial Public Offering). Thus, it is considered to be more transparent in its business model as compared to other types of business entities. In comparison to a Private Limited Company setting up of a Public Limited Company has stringent requirements. A Public Limited Company has a minimum of 7 members and there is no capping on the upper limit of the members of the company. A Public Limited Company keeps its operations distinct from its ownership to quite an extent. It is only a Public Limited Company which can have its shares listed on Indian stock exchanges such as NSE (National Stock Exchange) and BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange).

Advantages of Public Limited Company:

• Ability to transfer shares easily
• Easy availability of loans
• Separate legal entity
• Limited liability
• No Minimum Capital requirement

Checklists of documents required for Registration of Public Limited Company:

• Self attested copy of PAN card for Indian Nationals;
• Notarized and/or apostilled passport copy for Foreign Nationals
• Self attested copy of Passport/Voter ID/Driving license (for Identity Proof)
• Passport size photographs of all individuals
• Copy of Telephone/Mobile/Electricity bill/Bank statements (not more than 2 months old) of Directors (for Address Proof)
• Electricity/Gas bill (Not more than 2 months old) for office premises       
• In case of rented premises a notarized copy of Rent Agreement with a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for conducting business
• Registered Title document in the case of self-owned premises 
• Mobile no, email id of each Director/shareholder
• Proposed Shareholding pattern

Minimum Requirement

• A minimum of 3 directors
• A minimum of 7 shareholders
• A minimum of 1 director to be Indian Resident
• DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) for 2 directors
• DIN (Director Identification Number) for ALL company directors, can be applied while incorporating the Company (max 3 DINs)

Registration Process

1. Name approval: 

• Name for Company is applied through simple web based form. We can apply for total four names - Two names at a time followed with one resubmission chance.
• Name is available for 20 days from the date of approval.

2. Obtaining DSC:

• After applying for name, next step is to apply for digital signature of all directors/shareholders.

3. Preparation of Spice forms:

• After collection of all the necessary documents and signing them by directors, the next step is to fill the spice forms, attach all the attachments, affix DSC and submit it on MCA portal.

4. Allotment of Certificate of Incorporation (COI) with PAN/TAN:

• The MCA will issue COI in 3-4 days if all the documents are in order as required or else will raise objection requiring correction and resubmission.
• However, COI is issued with PAN and TAN of Company. 

5. Certificate of Commencement of Business:

• Every Company within 180 days of its incorporation has to file Certificate of Commencement of Business with MCA to commence business.