The Corporate Affairs Ministry plans to come up with a new form — SPICe Plus — for incorporation of companies. The new form, which will be introduced as part of the ease of doing business initiative, will replace the existing SPICe form, sources said. It will be mandatory for new incorporations.
The new form will be an integrated web form offering multiple services (simultaneous registration) — name reservation, incorporation, Director Identification Number allotment, mandatory issue of PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, Profession Tax (Maharashtra). It will also help in opening of a bank account.
It will also facilitate allotment of GSTIN wherever it is applied for by the stakeholders. After deployment of SPICe Plus, the RUN form will only be applicable for changing the name of existing companies.
The existing SPICe form is not web-based and could only be electronically uploaded.
Once SPICe Plus gets notified, all name reservations for new companies as well as new incorporations should be applied through it.
However, incorporation of companies for names reserved through the existing RUN service would continue to be filed in the existing SPICe e-form along with related linked forms as applicable and if marked under resubmission would have to be re-submitted in SPICe e-form, sources added.
It may be recalled that the Ministry, with effect from March 31, 2019, had made it mandatory to file SPICe form for incorporation of a company. The form was to be accompanied by a linked e-form INC-35 (AGILE). The AGILE form was a part of SPICe incorporation form and covered GSTIN, EPFO and ESIC.
Harish Kumar, Partner, L&L Partners, said the proposed web-based SPICe Plus, a long-awaited step in relation to setting up of new company, is definitely a welcome initiative by the Government and will enable the companies to start their business operations relatively faster when compared with the prevailing framework.
Foreign entities
The form will significantly help the applicants, importantly the foreign entities, in obtaining key statutory registrations (such as PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, GST) at the time of incorporation of a company, and opening of bank account simultaneously, which process currently entails consideration time (post incorporation), Kumar said. Rajesh Narain Gupta, Managing Partner, SNG & partners, a law firm, said SPICe Plus is a good initiative as it integrates all the required information for the incorporation of company at one place and facilitates e-incorporation of a company.