Understanding the concept of Producer Company Registration in India

Being an Agricultural centric economy, almost 60% of the Indian population depends directly or indirectly on the agricultural activities for their living. However, the primary producers and farmers have to face a lot of hardships and struggle to get their share of profit. Hence, to resolve such issues, the Indian Government introduced an expert Committee which is headed by a leading economist called Y.K. Alagh who looks after it. This expert committee introduced the concept of Producer Companies in the Indian economy to gain access to input, credit, advanced technology in production and marketing etc.

What is a Producer Company?

A Producer Company is a legally recognized group of farmers and agriculturists who aim to improve their living standards and make sure that they get recognition, well known status, regular income and profitability.

As per Companies Act, 2013, A Producer Company is allowed to be incorporated by

1. minimum of 10 individuals or
2. a minimum of 2 institutions or
3. by a combination of both

Further, if we talk about the management of the Producer Company, then it must have:

1. Minimum of 5 directors and Maximum of 15 Directors
2. A Full time Chief Executive Officer to look after the management of the Company

Primary Object of forming a Producer Company

The main purpose of a Producer Company is empowerment of farmers, helping them to use the latest technology and reducing the cost of agriculture harvesting by creating a registered body of farmers in the form of a Producer Company. Further, it can have the following business objective relating to:

• Procurement
• Harvesting
• Production
• Pooling
• Grading
• Marketing
• Handling
• Selling, or
• Export

Of the primary produce of the members or import of goods or services.

Advantages of Producer Company

A Producer Company has several benefits as follows:

• A registered Producer Company enjoys the same status as a Private Limited Company which includes its consideration as a separate legal entity which has the power to buy or sell land on its own name
• A Producer Company can have access to greater credit facilities in comparison to non registered producer companies
• A Producer Company can as and when required make changes in its board of management by filing simple ROC forms with the Registrar
• A Producer company is well managed when the work is divided between its various directors rather than a single farmer managing the whole business.
• A Registered Producer company can get accept deposits in the form of fixed deposits or recurring deposits and can also provide loan to its members and farmers at low rate of interest.

Activities performed by the Producer Company

Producer company is allowed to carry on any of the activities as mentioned below either on its own or through other institution:

• Processing of crops which will include preserving, distilling, drying, canning, brewing and packaging
• Manufacturing of crops which includes production on a large scale using advanced machines, sale and supply of necessary equipment and machines
• Education and guidance to low scale farmers so that they can choose better ways to grow crops.
• Advanced technical and consultancy services as per the interest and requirements of the producer company
• Insurance of the producer along with his primary produce
• Generating, transmitting and distributing power and further providing guidance related to proper utilization of water and land resources
• Financial help to its members for the purpose of marketing, procurement and other related activities
• Promoting mutuality and mutual assistance amongst its members.

Pre-Incorporation Checklist of Producer Company

Before you proceed to register your Producer Company, make a note of the following checklist:

• Minimum of 10 or more individual producers or any 2 or more producer institutions are required to register a Producer Company
• Minimum paid up capital of Rs. 5,00,000
• There is no upper limit of members in a producer company
• At least 5 directors with a maximum limit of 15
• A Producer Company cannot be converted into a Public Company, but can be converted into a Multi State Co-operative society.
• A Producer company is allowed to possess only equity share capital
• The producer company needs to conduct 4 board meetings every year after every 3 months
• A person who is engaged in activities which are related to production of primary produce is allowed to have ownership in the company. Hence, all members must be primary producers
• The name of the proposed Producer Company must end with the word “Producer Company Limited”
• As per the provisions of Companies Act, the proposed producer company is deemed to be a Private Limited Company

Document Requirement for Producer Company Registration

The documents for Producer Company registration are required from its Directors, Shareholders and Producer Company itself

• Documents from Directors and Shareholders
  • Scanned Copy of PAN Card
  • Scanned Copy of Passport (in case of Foreign Nationals and NRI’s)
  • A Scanned copy of Bank Statement/Electricity Bill/Telephone Bill/Mobile Bill/Gas Bill (Any one which must not be older than 2 months)

Note: In case of foreign nationals and NRI’s, all the documents have to be apostiled.

• Documents for Registered Office of Producer Company
  • Scanned copy of Bank Statement/Electricity Bill/Telephone Bill/Mobile Bill/Gas Bill (Any one which must not be older than 2 months)
  • No Objection Certificate from the owner
  • Scanned copy of Notarised Rental Agreement (including No Objection Certificate) from the owner, in case the premise is rented

Process of Producer Company Registration

The process of registering a Producer Company is quite similar to that of Private Limited Company Registration. The application needs to be filed in a web form called “SPICe +” which is divided into two parts i.e. Part A and Part B. The step by step process 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 + Form – Part A

For the name approval step, now you need to apply it through SPICe+form only with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Please note that a minimum of 2 names at the time of incorporation are proposed.

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.

Takeaway

Once your Producer Company is registered, you can operate it without any legal complication. Moreover, livelihood of farmers will improve and farmers will be organized. Hence, if you have a keen interest in agricultural related business and want to have your own Producer Company, contact Legal Window now to get approval.