The New MCA Spice+ Form for Company Registration

According to The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 survey, “India climbed 14 rungs to stand at 63, among 190 countries, making it one of the world’s top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.”

Among other improvements, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has fueled the Government of India’s (GoI) ease of doing business initiative. The MCA has launched a webform called SPICe+, often referred to as SPICe Plus.

What is an MCA SPICE+ form?

Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically (SPICe) is an application form used for registering or incorporating a company under MCA.

To better incorporate or revolutionise the way companies are registered in India, SPICe+ form will offer ten services by three Central Government Ministries and Departments.

You can be any firm: A Private or Public Limited, One Person Company, Section 8, Nidhi, or a producer company, you are liable to be registered under MCA with the SPICe form.

This integrated web form will save many lengthy procedures, save time and cut expenditures for starting a new business in India (Applicable from 15th February 2020).

But, what about the MCA SPICe INC 32 form? What is the difference between the old and new form?

Well, the new SPICe+ shall replace the old form. And, the MCA SPICe INC 32 form only helped in name reservation, incorporating a new company and applying for Director Identification Number (DIN). Whereas, the SPICe+ form has a lot more to offer.

What are the features of SPICe+ form?

The SPICe+ form has been divided into two parts:

Part A – Name reservation for new companies
Part B – To offer a bouquet of services:

(i) Incorporation

(ii) Allotment of DIN

(iii) Mandatory issue of PAN

(iv) Mandatory issue of TAN

(v) EPFO registration

(vi) Issue of ESIC registration

(vii) Issue of compulsory Profession Tax registration (Maharashtra)

(viii) Opening of bank account for the company and

(ix) GSTIN Allotment (If applied)

Here are some other features of the SPICe+ form:

Spice+ form allows users to choose and submit Part-A for reserving a name first, and later they can provide Part B for incorporation and other services. Users can also file Part A and B together for incorporating a new company and availing other services
A brand new user-friendly dashboard on the Front Office is in the works for company incorporation application (SPICe+ and linked forms as applicable)
Incorporation applications (Part B) after name reservation (Part A) can be submitted in continuation of Part A of SPICe+. Stakeholders will not be required to enter the SRN of the approved name. Because the approved name will be displayed on the dashboard and a click on the same will take the user for the continuation of the application via a hyperlink
Application resubmission request for company name reservation and incorporation shall also be handled through the application number/name applied for the link on the new dashboard. Also, a hyperlink will be available for the SRN/application number to enable easy resubmission
Starting from 15th February 2020, RUN service would be applicable only for ‘change of name’ of an existing company
The new web form would also facilitate on-screen filing and real-time data-validation for flawless incorporation of companies
The approved name and related incorporation details (submitted in Part A) will be automatically Pre-filled in all linked forms (AGILE-PRO, eMoA, eAoA, URC1 and INC-9)
SPICe+ will be structured into various sections to ensure ease while filing
Entered information can be saved and modified
All check form and pre-scrutiny validations excluding the DSC validation will happen on the webform
After the SPICe+ is filled with all details, it is mandatory to convert the same into a pdf format, for affixing DSCs
All digitally signed applications can be uploaded with the linked forms as per the existing norms
Even after generating pdf and affixing DSCs, modifications to SPICe+ can also be done by editing the saved webform application
DSC and other validations will happen at upload level
Declaration by all subscribers and first directors in INC-9 shall be auto-generated in pdf format (Except for some instances where the total number of subscribers or directors is greater than 20, and if any such subscribers or directors have neither DIN nor PAN)

Source: Ministry of Corporate affairs

Conclusion

Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be compulsory for all newly incorporated companies from 15th February 2020. And, no EPFO and ESIC registration nos. shall be entertained or separately issued

For profession tax, registration shall also be compulsory for all new companies incorporated in the State of Maharashtra from 15th February 2020.

From 15th February 2020, all new companies incorporated through SPICe+ are required to apply for opening their company’s bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked webform

As per the directives of the MCA, all companies must file statutory returns whenever they exceed the acceptable threshold limits under the SPICe+ form’s latest incorporation standards.