What is MCA 21 Portal? - MCA 21 Services, MCA Registration and MCA V3

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) launched the MCA 21 portal in 2006, which enables secure and easy access to MCA services in an assisted manner for professionals, corporate entities and the general public. The MCA 21 portal aims at interoperability with the National e-Governance Services Delivery Gateway (NSDG). It will help extend MCA services to businesses through multiple front-end delivery channels and provide other value-added services above the base services offered by the MCA 21.

Objectives of the MCA 21 Portal

The MCA 21 portal is designed to automate all processes related to the compliance and legal requirements under the Companies Act, 1956, Companies Act, 2013 and the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008. It will help the business community to fulfil their statutory obligations.

Benefits of the MCA 21 Portal

The MCA 21 portal provides the following benefits:

• Enables businesses and entrepreneurs to easily and quickly register a company and file statutory documents online
• Provides access to public documents online
• Helps effective and faster resolution of public grievances
• Helps to register and verify charges easily
• Ensures effective and proactive compliance with corporate governance and relevant laws
• Enables the MCA employees to give best-of-breed services

MCA 21 Services

Obtain Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

All forms and documents filed in electronic form by companies/LLP on the MCA 21 portal must be secured and authenticated by the DSC of the director, managing director or authorised person. On the MCA 21 portal, the respective persons or professionals can obtain and update their DSCs. 

Apply for Director Identification Number (DIN)

All existing and intending directors must have a DIN within the prescribed time. They can apply and obtain DIN in the following three ways by logging into the MCA 21 portal:

• SPICe+ form: The proposed first directors of new companies can apply for allotment of DIN in the SPICe+ form only.
• DIR-3 form: A person proposing to become a director in an existing company can apply for allotment of DIN in form DIR-3.

A director can also change details submitted in the SPICe+ form or DIN form through the DIR-6 form on the MCA 21 portal. A director can also verify DIN details on the MCA 21 portal.

View Master Data Details of a Company/LLP Registered with ROC

The general public can view the master data of any company/LLP registered with the ROC (Registrar of Companies) on the MCA 21 portal. The MCA 21 company master data contains all company details, such as company incorporation date, registration number, active company status, address, CIN, ROC code, class of company, etc.  They can also view the register of charges, index of charges, signatory details, companies/directors under prosecution, companies/LLPs registered in the last 30 days, and directors’ master data.

LLP e-Filing

Designated partners of an LLP can log in to the MCA 21 portal and complete all LLP form filing online. They can fill out and submit the RUN-LLP (Reserve Unique Name of the LLP) and FiLLiP Incorporation of LLP forms online on the MCA 21 portal. All other annual forms of the LLP can also be submitted by logging into the MCA 21 portal.

LLP Services

A proposed partner of an LLP can find out if any similar registered LLP names exist through the LLP services before applying for LLP registration with the ROC. If a similar registered name exists, the designated partner will have to change the name of his/her LLP for it to be registered by the ROC. Similarly, the general public can also find out the status of LLP/LLPIN through the LLP services of the MCA 21 portal.

Company e-Filing

Directors or authorised signatories of a company can log in to the MCA 21 portal and complete all company form filing online. They can submit the company registration form (SPICe+ form) and other annual forms online on the MCA 21 portal. They can even check the annual filing status on the MCA 21 portal.

Company Services

An owner of a company/proposed director can find out if any similar registered company names exist through the company services before applying for registration with the ROC. If a similar registered name exists, the owner will have to change the name of his/her company for it to be registered by the ROC. Similarly, the general public can also find out the CIN of a company through the company services of the MCA 21 portal.

Raise Complaints 

Anyone can raise complaints or concerns regarding MCA services or investor/serious complaints on the MCA 21 portal.

Document Related Services

Anyone can get certified copies of the public documents of a company, such as the incorporation certificate, charge documents, etc., by paying the required fees on the MCA 21 portal. They can also view the company documents on the MCA 21 portal.  

Fee and Payment Services

Anyone can enquire about fees, pay fees after submitting a form, pay stamp duty charges or track payment status by logging into the MCA 21 portal.  

Investor Services

The MCA portal provides information about the unclaimed or unpaid amount of company investors and facilitates companies to upload investor details. An investor whose money has been transferred by the company to the IEPF can claim a refund of such money by filing the IEPF-5 form.

Independent Director Databank Services

An individual can access the independent director databank by logging into the MCA 21 portal.

Track SRN Transaction Status

Anyone who has filed any company/LLP form can track its status through the SRN number by logging into the MCA 21 portal.

MCA 21 Registration Process

Any individual/business user can register on the MCA 21 portal by following the below steps:

Step 1: Visit the MCA website.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Sign In/Sign Up’ button on the top right corner of the homepage.

Step 3: Click the ‘Register’ button on the next page.

Step 4: Enter the required details and click on the ‘Submit’ button.

The registration will be complete, and an individual/business user can log in to the MCA 21 portal by entering the user name and password and clicking on the ‘Login for V3 Filing’ button.

MCA 21 V3

During FY 2021-22, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) launched the MCA 21 Version 3.0, known as MCA 21 V3. This version has additional features of e-consultation, e-adjudication and compliance management. The MCA 21 V2 portal requires forms to be filled and uploaded in the portal, while in the V3, the forms can be directly filled out online. 

The key components of the MCA 21 V3 portal are as follows:

• E-scrutiny: A central scrutiny cell will scrutinise Straight Through Process (STP) forms filed by the corporates on the MCA21 registry and flag companies for more in-depth scrutiny.
• E-adjudication: e-adjudication manages the adjudication proceedings by the ROCs and Regional Directors (RD) and facilitates digitisation of the adjudication process for the ease of users. 
• E-consultation: e-consultation on the MCA 21 portal will provide an online platform to post proposed amendments or draft legislation for external users.
• Compliance Management System (CMS): CMS will assist MCA in identifying non-compliant companies/LLPs, issue e-notices to the defaulting companies/LLPs and generate alerts for internal users of MCA. 
• MCA lab: As part of the MCA 21 V3 portal, an MCA lab will be set up consisting of corporate law experts. The primary function of the MCA lab would be to evaluate the effectiveness of the CMS, e-consultation, enforcement, etc., and suggest improvements to the same.

The MCA 21 V3 portal enhances user experience using technology and seamless data dissemination through APIs. It simplifies the compliance process for companies/LLPs, saving them time and providing them with ease of business.