Incorporation
End-to-end Section 8 company incorporation for your non-profit: name reservation, the integrated SPICe+ filing with the Section 8 licence bundled in, charitable-objects e-MoA/e-AoA, and DIN/PAN/TAN, handled for you.
A Section 8 company gives your non-profit a registered legal identity with the credibility that comes from Companies Act oversight, formal board governance, and MCA filings. The licence to operate as a non-profit gets granted through the same SPICe+ filing as the incorporation itself. We handle the whole thing end to end, from name reservation to your Certificate of Incorporation with the licence bundled in.
A Section 8 company is a company registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 to promote charitable objects. That covers commerce, art, science, sports, education, research, social welfare, religion, charity, protection of the environment, or any other object serving the public good. It applies its income only to those objects and never pays a dividend to its members.
It's the strongest fit for a non-profit planning to operate at national or international scale, seeking foreign funding (FCRA) or corporate CSR partnerships, or wanting the credibility and governance discipline of a formal corporate structure. That credibility comes at a cost: Section 8 carries the heaviest ongoing compliance of India's three main non-profit vehicles. A smaller, founder-controlled initiative may be better served by a Trust; a member-based, democratically governed group by a Society.
Scope
We check your proposed name against existing companies, LLPs, and trademarks before filing. Section 8 companies are exempt from including "Limited"/"Private Limited" in the name; common suffixes are Foundation, Forum, Association, Federation, Chambers, Confederation, and Council.
Your objects clause quotes the Section 8(1)(a) language directly rather than a paraphrase, and the articles carry the Section 8(1)(c) dividend-prohibition clause. Any later amendment to either clause needs Central Government (RoC) approval, a stricter bar than an ordinary Pvt Ltd objects-clause change.
Rule 19 requires two declarations: one from a practising professional attesting your draft MoA/AoA comply with Section 8, and one from each applicant confirming the same. Both used to carry form numbers, INC-14 and INC-15, until MCA dropped both from the Rules in a January 2023 amendment. The declarations themselves are still required; we draft and arrange both.
DIN is allotted free through SPICe+ itself, the same mechanic as Pvt Ltd.
Specifics
Section 8 fits an organisation planning to operate at national or international scale, seeking foreign funding or large corporate CSR partnerships, or wanting the credibility and governance discipline of a formal corporate structure, at the cost of the heaviest ongoing compliance of the three main non-profit vehicles (Trust, Society, Section 8). A smaller, founder-controlled charitable initiative that wants speed and minimal paperwork is usually better served by a Trust; a member-based, democratically governed group by a Society. Companies Act registration and MCA oversight are widely regarded as more rigorous and transparent than Trust or Society registration, which is why Section 8 tends to carry the most institutional weight with funders.
Section 8(1) sets out three conditions the Central Government must be satisfied of before granting the licence: the company's objects promote commerce, art, science, sports, education, research, social welfare, religion, charity, protection of the environment, or any such other object (the named list is illustrative, and the statute leaves room beyond it); the company intends to apply its profits, if any, only to promoting those objects; and it intends to prohibit paying any dividend to its members. The second and third conditions together are the operative legal test for "non-profit" status here.
This restriction keeps applying for as long as the licence is in effect. It's an ongoing condition, and the Central Government can revoke the licence if the company's affairs are conducted fraudulently, in violation of Section 8's objects, or prejudicially to the public interest, after giving the company a chance to be heard. A Section 8 company also can't amend its MoA/AoA without Central Government (RoC) approval, and can only amalgamate with another Section 8 company with similar objects.
For a fresh incorporation, the Section 8 licence stopped being a separate front-end approval gate you clear before incorporating. Since the Companies (Incorporation) Sixth Amendment Rules 2019, the licence application (traditionally Form INC-12) sits inside the same integrated SPICe+ (INC-32) filing used for the incorporation itself: name reservation, the licence grant, and your Certificate of Incorporation all get issued together. Some older guides online still describe a standalone INC-1/RD-1/INC-7 sequence. That process was discontinued when SPICe+ replaced standalone name-reservation and incorporation filings, and following it will only slow you down.
A standalone Form INC-12 filing still applies to a different situation: an already-incorporated company (say, an existing Pvt Ltd) converting into a Section 8 company files INC-12 separately, since there's no SPICe+ incorporation event to bundle it into. That conversion route needs Regional Director-level approval and an MOA/AOA alteration, a different and heavier process than fresh incorporation.
Section 8 follows the minimums of whichever underlying company type it registers as, rather than setting its own headcount rule. Registered as a private company (the overwhelmingly common real-world pattern, and the default we build for), that's a minimum of 2 members and 2 directors, capped at 200 members. Registered as a public company, it's a minimum of 7 members and 3 directors with no upper limit, though that route is less common and needs a manual conversation with us before we scope it. At least one director must have been resident in India for 182+ days in the previous calendar year, the same Section 149(3) rule that applies across every company type.
There's no minimum paid-up or authorised capital requirement. A Section 8 company can be incorporated with or without share capital.
| Office scenario | Rent agreement | NOC from owner |
|---|---|---|
| Self-owned | Not required | Not required |
| Owned by a parent, sibling, or friend | Not required | Required |
| Rented | Required | Required |
| Coworking space | Provider service agreement | Required (or provider-issued equivalent) |
| Virtual office | Provider service agreement | Provider-issued equivalent |
Registering as a Section 8 company under the Companies Act does not automatically grant income-tax exemption, and doesn't automatically make donations to you tax-deductible for donors. Both are separate applications made to the Income Tax Department after incorporation, under a different statute. Without a 12A/12AB registration, your company's income is taxed like any ordinary company's, notwithstanding its Companies Act non-profit status. We handle this as a dedicated follow-on service once you've incorporated.
If your non-profit will charge fees for any service, sell tickets, or sell goods, you may still cross the standard GST turnover threshold like any other entity. Donations themselves sit outside GST's scope because they aren't consideration for a taxable supply, but fee-for-service activity does count.
Process
Step 1 of 5
Documents & DSC
We collect your details and documents, then get Digital Signature Certificates issued for your directors.
Common mistakes founders make
Clarifications
It's the strongest fit if you're planning to operate at national or international scale, want foreign funding or corporate CSR partnerships, or want the credibility of formal corporate governance, and you're prepared for the heaviest ongoing compliance of India's three main non-profit vehicles. A smaller, founder-controlled initiative is often better served by a Trust; a member-based group by a Society.
For a fresh incorporation, no. Since a 2019 rule change, the Section 8 licence is granted through the same integrated SPICe+ filing as the incorporation itself. A standalone Form INC-12 filing only applies if an already-existing company is converting into a Section 8 company.
The same minimums as a Private Limited Company by default: 2 members and 2 directors, capped at 200 members. That number comes from whichever underlying company type you register as, since private is by far the most common route.
No. Incorporation under the Companies Act and income-tax exemption are separate matters under separate statutes. You need a 12A/12AB registration afterward for your own income to be exempt, and an 80G registration for donors to claim a deduction. We offer both as a follow-on service.
No, never. The dividend prohibition isn't a one-time intention, it's an ongoing licence condition. Breaching it risks the licence being revoked.
Yes, but it needs Central Government (RoC) approval first, unlike an ordinary Pvt Ltd objects-clause amendment which doesn't need that pre-approval. Build some breathing room into your stated objects at incorporation to avoid needing this too often.
Our timelines assume resident-Indian members and directors. A foreign national's documents need notarisation and, depending on their country, apostille or consular legalisation before we can file, which usually adds one to three weeks.
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