Everything You Need to Know About Corporate Identification Number in India

Starting a new business comes with a lot of responsibilities. Apart from registering a business as a company, individuals must get a CIN or Corporate Identification Number. Hence, it is imperative to know about Corporate Identification Number (CIN), its usage and many other things. The following sections talk about CIN and related things. Read along!

What Is a Corporate Identification Number (CIN)?

Corporate Identification Number or CIN is a unique 21 digit alpha-numerical number given to all Private Limited Companies (PLCs), Companies owned by the Government of India, One Person Companies (OPCs), State Government Companies, Nidhi Companies, and Not-for-Profit ones, registered in India.

Registrar of Companies (ROC) of different states issues Corporate Identification Number under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Wondering how a CIN looks?

Here is an example of CIN - U54321MH2018NPL753159.

Read the next section to understand CIN.

How to Decode the Corporate Identification Number of a Company?

The 21 digits alpha-numeric number can be divided into 6 sections. Let’s decode the example mentioned above (U54321MH2018NPL753159) through 6 sections.

Section 1 - First character: U

Section 2 - Next five digits: 54321

Section 3 - Next two letters: MH

Section 4 - Next four digits: 2018

Section 5 - Next three characters: NPL

Section 6 - Next last six digits: 753159

Read on to know about these 6 sections in detail.

Section 1

First section of CIN shows whether a company is ‘Listed’ or ‘Unlisted’ on the Indian Stock Market. To be precise, this section shows Stock Market Listing Status. In this given example, this first character reads U meaning the company is ‘Unlisted’.

Section 2

This second section consists of five numeric digits and indicates the industry code of the country. The respective authority decides these numbers based on section, division, class, group; a company belongs to. Here, 54321 is the industry code of the country.

Section 3

The next two letters of the Industry code point to the Indian State that a particular company belongs to. Here, MH is the State code and means the company is in Maharashtra.

Section 4

The four numeric digits beside State code is the Year of Incorporation of a company. The given example shows 2018, which means the company was incorporated in the year 2018.

Section 5

Three letters that come after Year of Incorporation reveal company classification/business form/ownership status. Here, NPL refers to a Not-for-profit Licence Company.

Section 6

Last six digits of the Corporate Identification Numbers reveal the registration number of that company. It means that 753159 in this CIN is its company registration number.

The above discussion clearly answers what CIN is. Now, let’s learn about the usage of and abbreviations in Corporate Identification Number.

What Are the Uses of Corporate Identification Number?

The issuing body, i.e., ROC and CIN holding organisations require CIN for various reasons. The usages of CIN are as follows -

To track actions of companies registered with them
To get information of any registered company
To prepare audits and reports of companies
To submit a form to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
CIN is used on the following list of documents:

On invoices, bills and receipts

On letterheads

On notice

On memos

Company’s official publications

Any other company publications

What Are the Abbreviations in CIN?

The abbreviations in CIN are as follows -

FLC: Financial Lease Company as Public Limited
FTC: Subsidiary of a Foreign Company as Private Limited Company
NPL: Not-for-Profit Licence Company (Section 8 Company)
OPC: One Person Company
SGC: Companies owned by the State Government
GAP: General Association Public
PLC: Public Limited Company
PTC: Private Limited Company
GAT: General Association Private
ULL: Public Limited Company with Unlimited Liability
GOI: Companies owned by the Government of India
ULT: Private Company with Unlimited Liability

With a detailed discussion, this piece on Corporate Identification Number comes to an end. Read the details carefully and get CIN without any hassle.

Frequently Asked Questions

✓ Does ROC issue a CIN to a Limited Liability Partnership?

No, ROC does not issue a CIN to a Limited Liability Partnership. Instead, ROC provides LLP with a unique 7-digit identification number - LLPIN (Limited Liability Partnership Identification Number).

✓ How to obtain a Corporate Registration Number?

Businesspersons can obtain a Corporate Registration Number by following these steps: Visit the official portal of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs > Fill up the application form > Submit the form with other required documents > Once the form is reviewed and approved by MCA, make payment and complete this procedure.