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Licenses & registrations
We draft your partnership deed and file it with the Registrar of Firms, so your firm exists as a properly registered legal entity that can enforce its own contracts in court.
We draft your partnership deed and file it with the Registrar of Firms, so your firm exists as a properly registered legal entity that can enforce its own contracts.
A partnership firm can trade without registering. Registration is what lets it, or any partner, sue to enforce a contract, including against a co-partner, under Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932. We draft the deed to your partners' actual terms, then file the registration statement with the Registrar of Firms for your state.
Registration runs through your state's Registrar of Firms, a separate body from the MCA, and each state sets its own form and fee. We currently quote fixed government fees for Delhi and Maharashtra. Karnataka's fee is disputed across public sources, so we confirm it directly with the department before filing.
Delhi's government filing fee is Rs.3, printed on Form No. 1 itself.
Maharashtra's is Rs.1,500 for Form A plus Rs.100 in other charges.
Karnataka's fee is contested across sources at the time of writing; we confirm the current figure with the department before filing rather than quoting one here.
Section 58 of the Act uses the word "may", not "shall": a firm can register at any time, or never, and non-registration doesn't make the partnership illegal or void. What it does is bar the firm, and any partner, from suing to enforce a contract until the firm registers, under Section 69. That includes a partner suing a co-partner on the deed itself. A suit for dissolution of the firm, or for accounts of a dissolved firm, is exempt from this bar either way.
| State | Registration form | Government filing fee | State-specific requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | Form No. 1 | Rs.3 | Witness attestation by a Gazetted Officer, Advocate, Vakil, Magistrate, or Registered Accountant |
| Maharashtra | Form A | Rs.1,500 + Rs.100 other charges | CA- or Advocate-certified Marathi translation of the deed, filed as a mandatory enclosure |
| Karnataka | State equivalent | Contested across sources, confirmed with the department before filing | Runs through the Department of Stamps and Registration |
The registration statement itself only asks for the firm name, places of business, partner details, and duration. Everything that actually governs the partnership, profit-sharing ratio, capital contribution, what happens if a partner leaves or dies, how a dispute gets resolved, sits in the deed. Leave the profit-sharing ratio unstated and the Act's default applies: equal sharing between partners, regardless of who put in more capital. We state every partner's actual terms in the deed we draft, so that default never gets a chance to apply by accident.
Want to see the field list before you commit to the service? Our free Partnership Deed Template covers the same terms and is a genuine starting point you can use on its own.
Step 1 of 4
Terms and state confirmed
We confirm your partners' profit-sharing ratio, capital contribution, and the state you're registering in, since the process and fee differ by state.
Common mistakes founders make
No. Registration is optional under Section 58 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932. An unregistered firm can still trade, invoice, bank, and hire. What it can't do is sue to enforce a contract, including against a co-partner, until it registers.
Rs.3 in Delhi, Rs.1,500 plus Rs.100 in Maharashtra, both fixed government filing fees. Karnataka's figure is disputed across public sources at the time of writing, so we confirm it with the department before filing rather than quoting one here. This is separate from stamp duty on the deed itself, which we calculate for your specific state.
Included. We draft the deed to your partners' actual terms as part of this service, the same field set as our free template, rather than selling deed drafting separately.
Worth resolving before you register. If the deed is silent on it, the Act's default rule applies: equal sharing between partners regardless of unequal capital contribution. We flag this during drafting so it's a decision you make on purpose.
Yes. The conversion can be structured as tax-neutral under Section 47(xiiib) of the Income Tax Act if the same partners keep the same profit-sharing ratio for five years after converting. Many founders start as a partnership for speed and convert once liability exposure or deal size justifies an LLP's liability cap. See our LLP Incorporation service when you're ready for that step.
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Partnership Firm Registration Fee and Process: Delhi vs Maharashtra vs Karnataka
Registering a partnership firm is optional under the Indian Partnership Act, but skipping it costs you the right to sue on a contract. Delhi's filing fee is Rs 3, Maharashtra's is Rs 1,500 plus Rs 100, both confirmed from the states' own Registrar of Firms documents. Karnataka's figure is disputed across sources and isn't stated here as a fixed number.
Partnership vs LLP: Which Should You Choose
A partnership firm and an LLP tax the same way but carry very different liability and compliance loads. Here's the actual difference, a side-by-side comparison, and how the conversion from one to the other works if you start in a partnership and outgrow it.
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