Introduction of One Person Company (OPC) in India

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In recent times, a new form of company has become widely popular which is called “One Person Company” (OPC). To encourage unorganized proprietorship business to enter into an organized corporate world, the concept of One Person Company was introduced. It is a vast improvement over sole proprietorship where a single person has full control over the company while limiting his/her liability to the amount of contribution to the business. Such a person will be the sole director and the shareholder of One Person Company. However, there would be a nominee director also but it would have no power until and unless the original director has become incapable to enter into any kind of contract. One Person Company, thus, does not allow raising equity funding or offering any employee stock options.

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Brief Overview of One Person Company (OPC)

A “One Person Company” means a company run by a single person who has full authority over the company. Hence, One Person Company can be formed with only 1 owner who can act as both the director as well as the shareholder of the company.OPC is formed as per the provisions of Companies Act, 2013, and guidelines as per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

An OPC is incorporated as a Private Limited Company where it is not allowed to invite the public to subscribe to the securities of the company. However, the compliance requirements are much lesser than that of a Private Limited Company.

The One Person Company concept has a very bright future for small traders, entrepreneurs, artisans, other service providers who prefer to take low risk while running their business. The OPC would act as a launchpad for many such entrepreneurs who wish to expand their skills globally.

Minimum Conditions Applicable on OPC in India

  • The person incorporating OPC and its nominee must be a natural person, citizen and resident of India.
  • No person is allowed to incorporate more than one OPC
  • No nominee is allowed to become nominee in more than one OPC
  • In case a person is already a member in an OPC and he becomes member in another OPC, then he must within 180 days of his becoming member in another company must make leave the first OPC.

Advantages of One Person Company (OPC)

Not just one or two, but there are various reasons why you should go for One Person Company registration. They are as follows:

  • OPC is not required to hold Annual General Meeting
  • Individual flexibility that permits the Professional, owner to adopt the kind of business he wants to launch.
  • The craving of the innovative individual to face an additional challenge and ability to assume extra liability.
  • OPC has various industry specific advantages like that of a Private Limited Company
  • It is controlled by people yet OPCs are a different legitimate business like that of any normal corporate business different from its members.
  • A One Person Company is incorporated as a private limited company.
  • In contrast to a private or public limited company, OPCs are not burdened with a lot of compliances.

Types of One Person Company

Types of One Person Company

Documents Required for One Person Company Registration

Following are the documents that are accepted by MCA for the One Person company registration:

  • Identity and Address Proof of Director and Nominee
  • Scanned copy of PAN Card (Passport in case of Foreign Nationals & NRIs)
  • Scanned copy of Voter’s ID/Passport/Driver’s License (Any one)
  • A Scanned copy of the latest bank statement/telephone or mobile bill/electricity or gas bill of the individual (Any one, not older than two months)
  • Form INC-3 duly filled and signed by the Nominee (Format is available on MCA website)

Note: For the foreign nationals, apostilled or notarized copy of the passport has to be submitted compulsorily. All documents submitted should be valid and genuine.

  • Registered Office Proof
    For online company registration in India, the company must have a registered office in India. Following documents needs to be mandatorily provided while giving Registered Office details:
    • Scanned copy of the latest bank statement/telephone or mobile bill/electricity or gas bill in case you own property
    • Scanned copy of Notarized rental agreement
    • A Scanned copy of No-objection certificate from the property owner

Important to Note: Your registered office can be a commercial premises or it can be your residence also.

Registration Process of One Person Company Registration

Registration Process of One Person Company Registration

Effective from 23rd February 2020, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has provided new web service SPICe+ along with other amended forms for incorporation of various companies. The new integrated form consists of two parts i.e. PART A and Part B.

Though the process of registering a One Person Company has now become simple, but still assistance from a professional is advised to complete the various complex forms and filing them within time. Moreover, the government portals and language are a bit on the difficult side, too.The process of registration of One Person Company is as follows:

Step 1: Apply for Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)
Since the process is completely online, hence the sole director or authorized signatory 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+.
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.

Note: As regards the name of a One Person Company, Companies Act, 2013 provides that the words “One Person Company” or “OPC” shall be mentioned in brackets below the name of such company.

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.

One Person Company (OPC) Registration in Jaipur

Annual Compliance for One Person Company (OPC)

The following are the most important compliances which needs to be taken care of by a Public Limited Company

S.No. Compliance Form No. Due Date
1 Filing of Financial Statements Form AOC-4 Within 30 days of holding of Annual General Meeting
2 Annual Return Form MGT-7 Within 60 days of entry of Ordinary Resolution in Minute Book.

Takeaway

The concept of One Person Company is widely accepted in many countries like Pakistan, China, Singapore, US. In India, if you wish to set up a private company, minimum two shareholders are required. In many cases, due to such legal requirement a second shareholder is forcefully roped in. The second shareholder sometimes takes advantage of his position. Hence, to overcome such problem, the concept of OPC has been introduced. Contact Legal Windo

CA Pulkit Goyal, is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) having 10 years of experience in the profession of Chartered Accountancy and thorough understanding of the corporate as well as non-corporate entities taxation system. His core area of practice is foreign company taxation which has given him an edge in analytical thinking & executing assignments with a unique perspective. He has worked as a consultant with professionally managed corporates. He has experience of writing in different areas and keep at pace with the latest changes and analyze the different implications of various provisions of the act.

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