The CIN number or the Corporate Identification Number or the Company Registration Number is a unique number issued by the Registrar of the Companies (ROC) under the Companies Act 2013. The ROC is governed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and can be found in various Indian states. The CIN number or CRN number is used to find the basic information about the registered firm. If you seek to establish a company in India and operate it, you will have to obtain the CIN number by getting your company registered.
How can you use the CIN?
The CIN serves various purposes for an enterprise, for example, it can be given to the tax collection agencies for hassle-free work, reporting and auditing purposes. All notices, bills, annual reports, bills, e-forms on the MCA site and publications related to the company must have CIN.
Who issues the CIN number and what does it look like?
Once the company is registered successfully, the ROC office in the state issues a certificate that has the unique Corporate Identification Number along with the company’s approved name. Every company must quote this number whenever a data or a correspondence is sent to the MCA. This becomes more important during audits and report making. The CIN reveals significant information about the company and verifies the firm’s authenticity.
The CIN consists of an alphanumeric code comprising 21 digits and letters. The format of creating the CIN is common for all the ROCs in every state of India. Some of the classifications that the ROC incorporates include:
• Public Limited Company (PLC)
• Private Limited Company (PTC)
• Not For Profits License Company (NPL)
• Companies Owned by the Government of India (GOI)
• Financial Lease Company (FLC)
• Public Limited Company with Unlimited Liability (ULL)
• One Person Company (OPC)
• General Association Private (GAT)
• General Association Public (GAP)
• A subsidiary of a Foreign Company (FTC)
• Companies Owned by State Government (SGC)
• Public Limited Company with Unlimited Liability (ULT)
• Producer Company
Identification of the corporate from CIN
First character: the first character of the company verifies whether the company having the CIN is listed or not. This means listed in the stock market. If the firm is not listed yet, it will start with ‘U’ while the listed ones will start with the letter ‘L’.
Next five numerical: after the first letter being U or L, the next five digits classify the economic activity of the company. The five digits represent; section, division, group, class and sub-class. The MCA had designated separate categories for its purpose.
Seventh and eighth alphabets: the two alphabets just after the numerals represent the state in which the registered office is located and where the company is been registered.
Following four numerals: these come right after the state of registration representing the year in which the company was incorporated
Next three alphabets: this shows the companies type such as Public Limited Company, Private Limited Company or a Limited Liability Company registered.
Last six digits: after getting all the important information, the last six digit reveals the code of the ROC where the company has been registered in India.
How can you get a CIN number for your company?
When you register your business with the registrar of companies, you will be provided with a CIN number. Obtaining a CIN number does not require any additional steps. The company will be incorporated by obtaining a digital signature certificate (DSC), a director identification number (DIC), having the name approved, and completing documents such as the Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association. A CIN number will appear on the certificate of incorporation. As such, when you register a company with the registrar of companies, you get a CIN number. There is no other way to obtain a CIN number. It’s something you’ll get when you register your business.
Checking the Company Registration Number online
You can easily check the CIN or the Company Registration Number online, type of company, date of its incorporation, directors of the company and other data from the MCA’s official website. Apart from it, they also have annual returns of the company documents, balance sheet and other official data on their website which can be accessed after depositing an appropriate fee.
Follow the below steps to check the CIN on the official site of MCA:
- Go to the official site of MCA
- Click the MCA services icon on the home page. Click on ‘Find CIN’ from the drop-down under the company services. A page will be displayed further.
- Choose from the options available and fill in the details to get the CIN.
- The registration number of a company is 6-digit long whereas the CIN is a 21-digit alphanumeric code.