Incorporation
We file your INC-20A commencement-of-business declaration before your 180-day deadline, so your company can legally start operating, invoicing, and borrowing.
Your company can't legally start operating, invoicing, or borrowing until INC-20A is filed. Missing the 180-day deadline carries a real penalty rather than a mere late fee. We file it for you and make sure your subscription-money proof is in order first.
INC-20A is the commencement-of-business declaration every Private Limited Company must file with the Registrar of Companies before it can legally begin operating.
It has to be filed within 180 days of incorporation, and it depends on every subscriber having actually transferred their subscribed share capital into the company's bank account first. That's a step founders sometimes miss until it's time to file.
Scope
Filed against your Certificate of Incorporation, confirming your company has commenced business.
Authorizing the declaration, if your company hasn't already passed one internally.
We check this before filing, since a missing or incomplete subscription-money proof is a common reason this filing gets stuck.
Specifics
Under Section 10A of the Companies Act, 2013 (Rule 23A of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules), a company cannot commence business or exercise its borrowing powers until it files a declaration confirming every subscriber has paid up their share capital. Skipping or delaying this filing can stop you from legally invoicing customers or taking on debt.
A ₹2.5 lakh figure circulates online for INC-20A non-filing. That's the total penalty outcome from one specific MCA adjudication case, and it isn't the statutory rate. The actual statutory exposure is ₹50,000 for the company plus a per-day, capped penalty for defaulting officers, as set out above.
The single most common thing that holds this up: bank statement or proof showing every subscriber's subscription money has actually been credited to the company's account. Without that, the declaration can't be filed truthfully, so we check this first, before we submit anything.
Process
Step 1 of 4
Document check
We confirm your Certificate of Incorporation and bank proof showing every subscriber's capital credited.
Common mistakes founders make
Clarifications
The company faces a ₹50,000 penalty, and every defaulting officer faces ₹1,000 per day of default, capped at ₹1,00,000 per officer. We track this deadline as soon as we take on your incorporation, and can also step in if you're already close to or past it.
No. Under Section 10A, a company cannot legally commence business or exercise its borrowing powers until this declaration is filed. That includes invoicing customers and taking on debt.
That has to happen first. We check your bank proof for this before filing, since the declaration confirms it's already done rather than pending.
It's good practice, and we can draft one for you if your board hasn't already passed one authorizing the declaration.
Related
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