SPICe+ Company Incorporation 2026: Sequence, Timeline and Cost

Incorporating a private limited company on MCA V3 takes 10 to 15 working days end to end, and the largest single line in the bill is usually stamp duty, which depends entirely on your state.

Last verified: 5 September 2026 · Applies to: incorporations filed on MCA21 V3 from 2026 onwards

Contents

• What changed, and why older guides are now wrong
• Part A: name reservation
• Part B: one form, ten registrations
• The linked forms nobody mentions until you are in them
• What it actually costs
• The real timeline
• Why names get rejected
• Have this ready before you start
• The post-incorporation clock
• Frequently asked questions
• How BVACA can help

What changed, and why older guides are now wrong

Two things have moved since most of the incorporation content online was written.

MCA21 V2 was decommissioned with a migration deadline of 30 June 2026, and no extension is planned. SPICe+ and AGILE-PRO-S are V3-only. Any walkthrough that shows a V2 screen, or tells you to install a Java runtime to open the form, is describing a portal that no longer exists. V3 does not require Java.

That includes our earlier incorporation guide, which was written against the V2 environment. The document list in it still holds. The portal steps do not, and this article supersedes them.

The second change is the Income-tax Act, 2025, in force from 1 April 2026. It does not change how you incorporate, but it changes every section number your new company will quote from its first day of trading.

Part A: name reservation

Part A of SPICe+ reserves the name. The mechanics are fixed and worth knowing before you start typing:

• You may propose up to 2 names
• The fee is ₹1,000
• Approval typically takes 1 to 2 working days
• An approved name is valid for 20 days, within which Part B must be filed

The 20-day validity is the constraint that catches people. It is not 20 days to think about it. It is 20 days to assemble every signed document, obtain any missing digital signature certificate, get registered office proof from a landlord who is not in a hurry, and file Part B. If it lapses, you pay ₹1,000 and start again.

The sensible practitioner sequence is therefore to have Part B substantially ready before filing Part A, not after. Reserve the name only when the directors' KYC documents, the registered office proof and the DSCs are in hand.

You can also file Part A and Part B together, which removes the 20-day risk at the cost of losing the early signal on whether your name will survive. For a distinctive coined name, file together. For a name that sounds like something that may already exist, reserve first.

Part B: one form, ten registrations

Part B is the incorporation application itself, and it is genuinely a single window. One approved SPICe+ Part B delivers ten services:

1. Incorporation of the company
2. DIN for up to 3 directors
3. PAN
4. TAN
5. GSTIN
6. EPFO registration
7. ESIC registration
8. Profession tax registration (Maharashtra)
9. Opening of a bank account
10. The incorporation itself as filed and certified

Two consequences follow. First, if you have more than three directors who do not already hold a DIN, the extra DINs cannot come through SPICe+ and must be obtained separately. Plan the founding board around that.

Second, GSTIN, EPFO and ESIC are optional selections inside the form. Founders routinely tick everything on the theory that more registration is safer. It is not. A GST registration obtained on day one starts a return filing obligation on day one, including nil returns, with late fees for each missed period, whether or not the company has issued a single invoice. Take GST at incorporation if you know you will be invoicing immediately or you need it for a customer onboarding. Otherwise take it when you need it.

Applications are processed through the Central Processing Centre, which is why incorporation timelines are now fairly consistent nationally rather than varying by which ROC office your state falls under.

The linked forms nobody mentions until you are in them

SPICe+ Part B does not travel alone. Four linked forms go with it:

INC-9 being auto-generated matters: it is populated from what you entered elsewhere, so an error in a director's details propagates into a declaration that everyone then signs. Read it before signing rather than treating it as a formality.

The eMoA and eAoA are where founders under-invest. These are the company's constitutional documents, and the default templates are drafted for the general case, not for a company that intends to raise external capital, issue ESOPs or operate with more than one class of shares. Amending the articles later is a members' resolution and a filing. Getting them right at incorporation costs an hour of thought.

What it actually costs

Here is the honest structure of an incorporation bill.

The point that gets buried in every "company registration fees in India" article is this: the government filing fee is nil for most start-ups, and stamp duty is the dominant variable.

A company incorporated with ₹1 lakh or ₹10 lakh of authorised capital pays no SPICe+ filing fee at all. What it pays is stamp duty on the memorandum, the articles and the incorporation, and that is levied by the state where the registered office sits. The spread runs from roughly ₹135 to ₹10,025 and beyond. Two identical companies, same capital, same directors, incorporated in two different states, can face a materially different bill for reasons that have nothing to do with the company.

So the honest answer to "what does it cost to register a private limited company in India" is: it depends mostly on your state. Anyone quoting a single all-India number is either quoting only their professional fee or quoting one state's stamp duty as if it were universal.

Note also that DSC is a vendor cost. It is not a government fee, it is not part of the MCA charge, and the price varies by certifying authority and validity period. Each director who will sign the incorporation documents needs one.

The real timeline

The gap between the 3 to 7 day processing window and the 10 to 15 day end-to-end figure is document preparation, and that is where every delay actually lives. Processing at the Central Processing Centre is reasonably predictable. Getting a director in another city to have documents notarised, or getting a landlord to produce a no-objection letter and a utility bill in the right name, is not.

If someone promises incorporation in 48 hours, they are describing the CPC processing window for a file where every document was already perfect. That is achievable, but it is not the same claim.

Why names get rejected

Name rejection is the most common cause of resubmission and the easiest to avoid. In practice, applications come back for a small set of recurring reasons:

• Too close to an existing company or LLP name. Phonetic similarity counts, not just spelling. Adding "India", "Global" or a plural does not create distinctiveness.
• Conflict with a registered trade mark, including one the applicant has never heard of. Search the trade mark register before you fall in love with a name.
• Generic or purely descriptive names. A name that is only a description of the activity carries no distinctiveness.
• The name does not match the stated objects. If the proposed name signals financial services, engineering or education, the objects clause needs to support it, and some activities need a sector regulator's approval first.
• Restricted or protected words requiring prior approval.
• Missing suffix or wrong constitution word for the entity type being incorporated.

Practical approach: propose two names that are genuinely different from each other rather than two variants of the same idea. Two variants both fail for the same reason. A coined word plus a descriptive alternative gives you two independent chances.

Have this ready before you start

For each director and subscriber:

• PAN
• Identity proof and address proof
• Passport-size photograph
• A valid DSC, obtained and tested
• Consent and declaration documents, signed

For the company:

• Two proposed names, checked against the MCA name search and the trade mark register
• Objects clause, drafted to match the name
• Authorised and paid-up capital, and the shareholding split
• Registered office address with proof of address and the owner's no-objection, in a name that matches the document

The document checklist for incorporation sets this out in more detail. Its document list remains accurate; treat the portal instructions in it as superseded by V3.

The post-incorporation clock

The Certificate of Incorporation is the start of the compliance calendar, not the end of the process. Immediately after incorporation a new company has to deal with:

• Appointment of the first auditor. Board must appoint within 30 days of incorporation; if the board fails, members must appoint within 90 days at an EGM. ADT-1 is filed within 15 days of appointment — the trap is that the 30-day board window closes fast, and a missed appointment triggers the members' route with its own EGM cost.
• The first board meeting. Must be held within 30 days of incorporation under section 173(1) of the Companies Act, 2013. Subsequent board meetings at least once every quarter with a maximum gap of 120 days between two consecutive meetings.
• Opening the bank account and depositing the subscription money. The account application goes through AGILE-PRO-S, but the account is opened by the bank on its own KYC timeline, and the subscribers must actually pay in the share capital they subscribed for. Paper subscription with no money deposited is a real and common defect.
• Declaration of commencement of business. Filed on Form INC-20A within 180 days of incorporation, certifying that every subscriber has paid the value of the shares agreed to be taken. No minimum monetary threshold — but every rupee subscribed must be paid in before INC-20A is signed. Missing this filing blocks the company from starting business and attracts a ₹50,000 penalty on the company plus ₹1,000 per day on each officer in default, capped at ₹1 lakh per officer.
• Then the annual cycle: AOC-4, MGT-7 or MGT-7A, ADT-1 and the half-yearly MSME-1 return. See the annual ROC calendar you inherit on day one, including the ₹100 per day additional fee with no cap.

One further point on director KYC, because it is now a trap in the opposite direction from the usual one. DIR-3 KYC became a three-yearly filing under G.S.R. 943(E) with effect from 31 March 2026. A director whose DIN was allotted during FY 2025-26 is next due on 30 June 2029. That is a long time to remember something, and DIN deactivation for non-filing, with a ₹5,000 reactivation fee, still applies.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to register a private limited company in India in 2026?

Name approval under SPICe+ Part A takes 1 to 2 working days. From filing Part B to the Certificate of Incorporation is typically 3 to 7 working days. Allowing for document preparation, digital signatures and registered office proof, plan on 10 to 15 working days end to end.

What are the government fees for company incorporation?

Part A name reservation is ₹1,000. The SPICe+ filing fee is nil for authorised capital up to ₹15 lakh, with slab fees above that. PAN and TAN are issued through SPICe+ at no separate fee. The variable cost is state stamp duty, roughly ₹135 to ₹10,025 or more, plus DSC at about ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 per director as a vendor cost.

Does SPICe+ still need Java?

No. Java was a V2 requirement. MCA21 V2 was decommissioned with a migration deadline of 30 June 2026, and SPICe+ on V3 does not require a Java runtime. Any guide telling you to install Java is describing the retired portal.

How many directors can get a DIN through SPICe+?

Up to three. SPICe+ Part B allots DINs for a maximum of three directors. If your founding board is larger and the additional directors do not already hold a DIN, those have to be obtained through a separate application.

Should I take GST registration in the SPICe+ form?

Only if you will be invoicing soon or a customer requires it. GSTIN, EPFO and ESIC are optional selections within AGILE-PRO-S. A GST registration taken at incorporation creates an immediate and continuing return filing obligation, including nil returns with late fees, whether or not the company has traded.

Can I reserve a name and file the incorporation later?

Yes, but the approved name is valid for only 20 days, within which Part B must be filed. If the window lapses you pay the ₹1,000 reservation fee again. Have the Part B documents substantially ready before reserving.

How BVACA can help

We incorporate private limited companies, OPCs and LLPs from our office in Panchkula for clients across Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur, the wider Tricity and elsewhere in India. The work is not the form. It is the name search done against both the MCA register and the trade mark register before you commit, an articles document drafted for the capital structure you actually intend, and the registered office documentation assembled so it does not come back for resubmission.

Because incorporation is now V3-only, we also set up the company's MCA access properly at the outset, so the first annual filing does not run into a DSC association problem in the week it falls due. We will give you a full cost breakdown, separating the government fees, your state's stamp duty and the DSC vendor cost from our professional fee (quoted against a written scope), before any work starts. See our company incorporation and secretarial services, and if you have not settled the structure yet, read whether a private limited company is the right structure at all first.

Book a consultation · WhatsApp

Author box: CA Vijender Singh Bachhal, Managing Partner, Bachhal Vijender & Associates (FRN 028355N), Panchkula. About the firm

Disclaimer: This article is general information current as at 5 September 2026, not advice for a specific situation. Tax and corporate law in India changed materially on 1 April 2026; verify the position before acting. Illustrative examples are not client matters.