Detailed Information on Micro Finance Companies in India

Micro Finance Companies are the financial institutions which provide finances or loans to people with low income and to groups whose financial requirements are less as compared to the other sections of the society. In simple words, Micro Finance Companies provide funds to those who are located in remote areas especially in semi urban and rural areas.Hence , the two main purposes of a Micro Finance Companies are:

• Providing funds to the low income people
• Providing funds to those residing in semi urban and rural areas

Micro Finance Companies must be incorporated as per the provisions of Companies Act, 2013. Before starting their business operations, they must have a minimum net worth as prescribed by the regulatory authority. Micro Finance Companies are sometimes also known as Micro Finance Institutions.

Types of Legal Structure for registration of Micro Finance Company

A Micro Finance Company can be registered as

• An NBFC-Micro Finance Institution Company or (interlink with NBFC Blog)
• A Section 8 Company (interlink with Section 8 Blog)

Limitation of Micro Finance Company

Since Micro Finance Company generally fulfills the needs of the people with low income group and who doesn’t have a regular banking facility, it only provides loan up to an amount of Rs. 50,000 only in rural areas and up to an amount of Rs. 1,25,000 in urban or semi urban areas. However, in case it is registered as an NBFC Company, it can provide loan upto 10% of its total assets. People like businessman, agriculturists, farmers can avail fund facilities from Micro Finance Company.

Advantages of Micro Finance Company

Micro Finance Company provides various benefits which are stated as below:

• Borrower does not require to provide any collateral/mortgage money for borrowing of funds
• MFC helps in generating employment opportunities
• Encouragement of Women entrepreneurship
• Growth and facilitating development in rural areas
• Multiple opportunities to earn income
• Supports start-ups to establish their business

Requirements in case a MFC is registered as an NBFC

• Approval of RBI is required
• Net owned fund of minimum 5 crores
• At least one director must have experience of more than 10 years in financial services
• MFC is eligible to provide loan of maximum of 10% of its total assets
• Registration of company will be done as per MCA Guidelines
• All compliance applicable on NBFC needs to be complied with
• Minimum members – 2 in case of Private Limited Company and 7 in case of Public Limited Company
• The status of organization will be a profit organization

Requirements in case a MFC is registered as a Section 8 Company

• MFC can provide unsecured loan upto Rs, 50000 to small businesses and upto Rs. 1,25,000 to individuals
• MFC will be registered as an non-profit organization
• Less compliance to be followed in comparison to NBFC
• Minimum of 2 members are required

Documents Requirement for Micro Finance Company Registration

Here is a complete list of documents which you require to register Micro Finance Company

• Certificate of Incorporation of Company issued by Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• Copy of Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association of Company
• A Board Resolution proposing registration of Micro Finance Company
• A Banker’s Report
• An Auditors Report stating receipt of “Minimum Net Owned Fund”
• Certificate from a Chartered Accountant providing details of members of companies, details of investment in other NBFC’s as shown in the Performa Balance Sheet
• PAN Card of all Indian shareholders and Directors
• Passport size photograph of all directors and shareholders
• Copy of Voter Identity Card/Passport/Driving License of all directors and shareholders
• Latest Electricity Bill/Water Bill/Gas Bill/Telephone Bill of all directors and shareholders
• In case of rented proposed Registered Office, a copy of Notarized Rent Agreement and NOC from owner
• Latest Electricity Bill/Water Bill/Bank Statement/Gas Bill of the Registered Office Address
• Income proof of the Director
• Proof of Experience of Director in Financial Sector
• Latest Credit Report of the Directors
• Net worth Certificate of the Directors
• A detailed plan of products and risk assessment policy
• Business plan of the proposed Company

Registration Process of Micro Finance Company

A Micro Finance Company can be registered as an NBFC Company or an Section 8 Company. In this article, we have mentioned the registration process as Section 8 Company. For registering it as an NBFC Company, you can click here (Inter link with NBFC Registration Blog). The step by step process of MFC Registration is as follows:

Step 1: Apply for Digital Signature Certificate (DSC): Since the process is completely online, hence all those authorized signatories/directors who needs to sign the online incorporation documents must apply for Digital Signature Certificate.

Step 2: Apply for Director Identification Number (DIN): DIN can be applied along with the company registration application form i.e. SPICe+. However, maximum 3 Directors can obtain DIN along with SPICE+.
In case the subscriber is already holding a valid active DIN, the proof of identity and residence need not be attached.<

Step 3: Apply for Name Approval through SPICe Plus Form – Part A: For the name approval step, now you need to apply it through SPICe Plus form only with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Please note that a minimum of 2 names at the time of incorporation are proposed. Make sure that the name of the proposed company must include the words like “Sanstha”, “Foundation” or “Micro Credit”

Step 4: Submitting Final Incorporation Documents: The Part B of SPICe Plus needs to be filled up and all the required information has to be given. Apart from that Memorandum of Association (MOA) and Articles of association (AOA) of the Company in prescribed format needs to be submitted. Moreover, declaration of all the subscribers and first directors in Form INC-9 needs to be provided.
In addition to the SPICe+ form, a person can now also apply for GSTIN, EPFO, ESIC, Professional Tax etc. through a web form called AGILE-PRO (INC-35) Once you are done with all this, convert the form into pdf format and upload on the MCA website.

Step 5: Receiving Certificate of Incorporation and opening of Bank Account: After approval of incorporation documents, you will receive your Certificate of Incorporation, Company Identification Number (CIN) along with PAN and TAN of your company.

Final Words
Micro Finance Companies impact on business is positive in India. It provides short term loans in lesser quantities to small entrepreneurs to establish their business. Where banks have quite strict rules and regulations whereas Micro Finance Companies have very simple rules which comes as life saviour especially for those who are unable to fulfill the loan criteria of banks