Documents to Register a Company
The list is short. What holds incorporations up is almost never a missing document - it is two documents that do not agree with each other.
For every director and subscriber
- PAN card — the name on it is the name that goes everywhere else
- Aadhaar
- Identity proof — passport, voter ID or driving licence
- Address proof — a bank statement or utility bill, recent, in their own name
- Passport-size photograph
- Email and mobile that they personally control, since verification goes there
- A Class 3 DSC for each subscriber and director, since the incorporation form is signed digitally
For the registered office
- Proof of the address — a recent utility bill in the owner's name
- NOC from the owner, or a registered rent agreement where the premises are rented
- Photographs of the premises where required
For a foreign director the documents differ and generally need notarisation or apostille — see our page on company registration with a foreign director.
Written 5 September 2026. Government requirements and portal behaviour change — message us to confirm before you rely on any date or figure here.
What actually delays incorporations
Not the documents themselves. Four things, in order of how often we see them:
- The name. Rejected for being too similar to an existing company or a registered trademark. This is the single biggest cause of delay and it is avoidable with a proper search first. See name approval.
- Name spelled differently across documents. PAN says one thing, Aadhaar another, the bank statement a third. Pick the PAN version and make everything match it.
- An address proof that is too old, or in someone else's name without an NOC.
- A DSC that does not exist yet. Every subscriber needs one and it is often discovered at the last step. Arrange these first; they are same-day but they are not instant.
Common questions
A private limited company needs at least two directors and two shareholders, and the same people can be both. For a single founder, an OPC is the structure — see OPC registration.
Usually a week to ten days when documents are clean and the name clears first time. A rejected name is what turns that into a month.
No. Everything is done online, including the DSC video KYC. Directors can be anywhere in India.
You can prepare, but contracts and bank accounts in the company's name need the company to exist. Invoicing before incorporation creates problems you will have to unpick.
Related on this site
The filings and decisions that come up before and after incorporation.