Provident Fund, Insurance Mandatory For All New Companies; Start New Business With A Single Form Now!

The Corporate Affairs Ministry has enhanced the simplicity of doing business!

From February 6, 2020 the government is set to launch a consolidated electronic form for incorporating new companies, wherein EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) and ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation) registration numbers will also be allotted at the same time.

There are more than 11.5 lakh active registered companies in the country and thousands of companies are getting incorporated every month. Active registered companies can be said to be those which agree with all regulatory requirements, including timely submission.

What is SPICe+?

The SPICe (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically) is currently operational which the SPICe+ will replace.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry is introducing a form offering 10 services- SPICe+.

The public notice issued by the ministry states that, “The 10 services offered through the new form would help in saving as many procedures, time and cost for starting a business in India.” 

What to expect while from SPICe+?

The labour ministry, Department of Revenue in the finance ministry and the Maharashtra government would also be offering certain services through this form.

The public notice also read, “EPFO and ESIC registration numbers would not be separately issued by the respective agencies.” Besides name reservation and incorporation of a company, EPFO and ESIC registration numbers would be alloted. The registration of EPFO and ESIC numbers will be made mandatory for every company incorporated from February 15, 2020.

Additionally, registration for profession tax would be mandatory for companies incorporated in Maharashtra from February 15, 2020.

The notice states that, “All new companies incorporated through SPICe+… would also be mandatory required to apply for opening the company’s bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked web form.” Mandatory issuance of PAN (Permanent Account Number), TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number), Profession Tax Registration (Maharashtra) and opening of bank account for the company concerned would be done through the form.

Director Identification Number (DIN) and Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), if applied, would also be allotted.

The corporate affairs ministry is implementing the Companies Act and all required filings under the law as well as incorporation of companies are made through its portal MCA21. The SPICe+ form will be available on this portal.