Introduction

The ROC (Registrar of Companies) of various states under the MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) allocates Corporate Identification Number (CIN), a unique 21 digit alphanumeric identification code to all the companies registered in India, including OPCs (One Person Companies), LLPs (Limited Liability Companies), Private Limited Companies, Public Limited Companies, companies owned by the government, etc.

The RoC is responsible for ensuring that every company complies with different government rules and regulation, before and after registration. The RoC also looks after issues like change of company names, conversion of business models of companies such as from a Public Limited to Private Limited, action against defaulters, etc.

Importance of CIN

The CIN can be used to track all the activities of the company, starting from the day of incorporation. It is also required to be provided on all transactions for several levels of information which ROC / MCA holds. Some other applications are –

Decoding CIN

The CIN code comprises the following information –

Let us consider an example,

CIN – U 72900 DL 2019 PTC 349962
Company Name – SUREPASS TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED
Listing Status

The first character shows the listing status of the company that is if the company is listed on the Indian stock exchange (NSE or BSE) or not. If the first character is ‘L’ then it means that the company is listed otherwise if it is ‘U’ then the company is not listed. In the above example, the first character is ‘U’ which means that Surepass Technologies is an unlisted company.

Industry Code

The next five numbers categorize the economic activities of the company and the business industry it belongs to. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has allocated a unique code to every industry carrying out its economic activities in India. In the above example, the next five digits of the CIN are 72900 which shows that the company’s business activity is ‘Other computer-related activities [for example maintenance of websites of other firms/ creation of multimedia presentations for other firms, etc.]’

State Code

The next two letters denote the Indian state in which the company is registered. For instance, the above company is registered in Delhi, so it is denoted by ‘DL’. Similarly, ‘MH’ for Maharastra, ‘RJ’ for Rajasthan, etc.

Year of Incorporation

The next set of 4 numeric digits signifies the year of incorporation of a company. In the above example, the four digits are 2019, so the company was incorporated in the year 2019.

Type of Company

The following three letters indicate the classification of the company. The three letters denote whether the company is a PLC, LLP, FTC, etc. Few other classifications under RoI are –

Here in the above example, the three letters are PTC, which means Surepass Technologies is a Private Limited company.

Registration number of the company.

The last set of six numbers are the registration number given by the respective Registrar of Companies (ROC). Thus from the above example, we can see that the registration number of Surepass Technologies is 349962.

Places where CIN must be mentioned

Penalty for Non-compliance

If a company fails to comply with the CIN requirements, then a fine of INR 1000 per day will be incurred on the defaulting company, as long as the default continues. However, the maximum penalty is INR 100,000.

Changing CIN

The CIN of a company must be changed in the following cases –