OPC (One Person Company) was introduced in the Indian environment as an enhanced structure of the sole proprietorship firm. OPC is a type of private limited company that can have one person who will act as a shareholder as well as director of the company. Now any individual can open a company and continue without the complexities of having partners. Like any other public and private company, registering the company is a must. This piece thoroughly talks about OPC registration. Stay tuned!

Here is a step-by-step guide on the registration process for One Person Company.

Step 1 - Apply for the DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) of the proposed director.

Step 2 - Member of OPC must apply for the DIN (Director Identification Number) of the proposed director.

Step 3 - Opt for name approval. Members of OPC can apply for name reservation on MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs). They can apply with one name in the SPICe+ (INC-32) application form.

Step 4 - At this stage, a member of OPC has to accumulate essential documents (discussed in the next section) and attach all these documents to the SPICe Form, SPICe-MOA, SPICe-AOA and upload and upload it to the MCA site for approval.

Note: During the Incorporation process, PAN and TAN generate automatically. Therefore, one need not separately file for PAN and TAN.

Step 5 - After verifying documents, ROC (Registers of Company) will issue an Incorporation Certificate which will enable member OPC to initiate the company and activities successfully.

Now that you know how to register a One Person Company, let’s learn about other essential details.

Following is a list of documents that members of OPC must prepare for filing the registration.

• Memorandum of Association (MoA)
• Articles of Association (AoA)
• Consent of nominee in Form INC-3 along with PAN card and Aadhaar card
• Deceleration and consent of the proposed director in Form INC-9 and DIR-2, respectively
• Evidence of the proposed company’s registered office and proof of ownership
• NOC from the owner
• The declaration of a professional stating all the requirements have been thoroughly met.

Indian citizens and Indian residents will be eligible to form a One Person Company and act as a nominee for an OPC. By residents of India, one indicates a person who has lived in India for not less than 182 days in the preceding financial year.

Here is the cost of OPC registration, i.e. price of DIN and other forms.

• DIN (1 Nos) - ₹ 500
• RUN form - ₹ 1,000
• MoA - ₹ 1,000
• AoA - ₹ 1,000 (up to ₹ 10 lakh of authorised capital)

Following are the timelines of OPC registration.

• Members of OPC can obtain DSC and DIN in 1 day.
• The issuance of an Incorporation certificate takes 3-5 days. In general, the whole OPC registration process takes around 10 working days.

During the registration process, a member of OPC has to submit the name of the nominee in the company’s MOA. The nominee of OPC will be responsible for handling all the activities of the entity after the death or incapacity of the rightful OPC member.

Following is the cluster of benefits that comes with OPC registration.

• The registration process provides OPC with a legal status that separates the company from a member.
• OPC registration covers the member with limited liability protection. Hence, in case of any loss of the company, the member will not be liable for it.
• Fundraising becomes easier due to One Person Company registration.
• OPC need not furnish a cash flow statement and can enjoy reduced compliances.
• The incorporation process is easy. Earlier, the requirement to start a company was more than one person, such as for a private company or public company. This changed after the enforcement of the Company Act 2013.
• One Person Company can enjoy perpetual succession as the nominee will undertake all the charges of that company’s member.

With such a detailed discussion, this piece on the registration process for OPC comes to an end. Read the details, complete the registration process and start your own company.