Company Name Approval in India

It is the reservation of your proposed company name by the Registrar of Companies before incorporation or a name change, under Section 4(4) of the Companies Act, 2013. Once approved, the name is held exclusively for you for the statutory window — 20 days for a new company, 60 days for a name change.

The Central Registration Centre (CRC) at Manesar, established under Section 396 of the Companies Act, 2013, examines and disposes of all name applications across India. There is no state-wise discretion — one central office applies one standard.

No. Name approval secures the corporate name on the MCA register; a trademark registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, protects the brand in trade. An MCA-approved name can still be challenged by a trademark owner under Section 16 of the Companies Act, 2013, within 3 years.

Yes — a company cannot be incorporated without a reserved or simultaneously approved name. You may either reserve the name first through a standalone SPICe+ Part A or propose it within the combined Part A + Part B incorporation filing.

No. SPICe+ Part A captures the company type, class and category (private, public, OPC, Section 8, producer, Nidhi, etc.), and the CRC tests suffix and name suitability against that type — so settle the structure first using a business structure comparison.

SPICe+ Part A reserves a name for a new company on MCA V3 and is the only route for fresh incorporation since 23 February 2020 (Rule 9). RUN reserves a new name for an existing company that is changing its name. Both carry a ₹1,000 government fee.

Two names in order of preference in a standalone SPICe+ Part A or a RUN application. If you file Part A together with Part B (the full incorporation), only one name can be proposed — so the standalone route gives you a second shot.

₹1,000 per application under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. It is non-refundable even on rejection. Extension of the reservation costs ₹1,000, ₹2,000 or ₹3,000, depending on the Rule 9A option you choose.

No. A standalone SPICe+ Part A or RUN is a web-form filing that needs only a registered MCA V3 login. DSCs become necessary at the incorporation stage (SPICe+ Part B) — see our digital signature service.

The SRN generated on submission must be paid within 7 days, failing which it is cancelled and the application is treated as never filed. The reservation clock starts only from the CRC’s approval, not from filing.

The commonest reasons are resemblance to an existing company or LLP after the Rule 8 disregards (suffixes, spacing, plural forms, word order), an unconsented registered trademark in the name (Rule 8A(1)(b)), purely descriptive or vague names, and Rule 8B words used without Central Government approval.

Only with the previous approval of the Central Government under Section 4(3)(b) read with Rule 8B. Without that approval, the CRC must reject the name regardless of how distinctive the rest of it is.

Only with the written consent of the trademark owner where the mark is registered in the same class as your activity (Rule 8A(1)(b), save Section 35 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999). Without consent, the name is undesirable and will be refused.

If the CRC finds a curable defect, it marks the application “Resubmission Required” with reasons. You get one resubmission, to be filed within 15 days of the marking — you may modify the proposed names or strengthen the justification. After that, the application is finally approved or rejected.

No. Rule 8 expressly disregards internet-related suffixes, the addition of place names in many situations, punctuation, spacing and word order when comparing names, so cosmetic tweaks to an existing name will still fail the resemblance test.

Words such as Investment, Loan, Finance or Chit Fund may be used only where that is genuinely the main business (Rule 8A); conversely, an actual financing business should carry an indicative word. NBFC-type names also attract the RBI’s regulatory expectations before incorporation.

20 days from the date of approval for a new company and 60 days for an existing company’s name change, under Section 4(5)(i) of the Companies Act, 2013. Incorporation (or the name-change filing) must be completed within this window.

Yes, under Rule 9A, to 40 days on ₹1,000 paid before the 20th day, then to 60 days on ₹2,000 paid before the 40th day, or directly to 60 days on ₹3,000 paid within the first 20 days. Nothing extends the reservation beyond 60 days.

The name returns to the open pool, and you must file a fresh application with a fresh ₹1,000 fee — with no guarantee of approval the second time, since another applicant may reserve it first. Plan the incorporation filing before you reserve.

Yes, on two fronts. Under Section 4(5)(ii), a reservation obtained on wrong or incorrect information can be cancelled with a penalty up to ₹1 lakh. And under Section 16, a registered trademark owner can apply within 3 years of incorporation; on a direction, the company must rename within 3 months by ordinary resolution, failing which an “ORDNC”-series name is imposed by the Registrar.

LLP names are reserved through RUN-LLP or within the FiLLiP incorporation form under the LLP Act, 2008 — a parallel but separate system. The Rule 8 resemblance logic, however, also tests company names against existing LLP names, and vice versa. See LLP registration.

Move straight to SPICe+ Part B with the e-MoA and e-AoA for incorporation — or, for a name change, convene the EGM for the Section 13 special resolution — well inside the validity window, and consider filing a trademark application for the brand the same week.