Guidelines for choosing your Company

The Registrar of the Companies (ROC) across India expects the applicant to follow certain criteria while naming a Company. The approval is also subject to the officer handling the application. The more closely the rules that are listed are followed the better the chances of getting the name of the Company approved.

Uniqueness: The name of the company is a unique component. A name once registered won’t be allocated to another company. This name needs to be descriptive For example if the company is a finance company, the word “Finance” should be included in the name. This word describes the nature of the company. So if the company is in the logistics or restaurant business it cannot have “Finance” in the name.

Avoid abbreviations: Abbreviations, adjectives and generic words will be rejected. The words banks, exchange, and stock exchange should be approved by RBI.

Trademark: Proposed company name cannot infringe on a registered trademark or an application for registration of a trademark unless the consent of the registered trademark owner or trademark applicant is submitted along with the name approval application.

Patronage: Proposed company name cannot imply association or connection with or patronage of a national hero or any person held in high esteem or important personages who occupied or occupied important positions in Government. The proposed name cannot imply an association with the Indian or Foreign Government.

Block your domain name: An applicant must block the domain name to avoid duplication.

Regulatory approval: The name of the company which has words like insurance, bank, stock, exchange, venture capital, asset management, mutual fund, etc may require regulatory approvals from RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, etc.

Do’s and don’ts while registering a Company

Do’s

• A word that describes the company should be mentioned.
• The name needs to be unique to avoid duplication or offense
• In the case of the Private Limited Company, the name should have the abbreviation at the end.

Don’t’s

• The name should not be offensive
• The plural version of any existing name is not applicable
• Separating and joining the different names can be considered
• The use of different tenses or numbers will not be counted as another name.

Note: *The authority for approval or rejection of company names rests with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) only. This tool is provided only to quickly estimate the availability of the name and domain. In some cases, a registered company or LLP or trademark may not be shown as registered, due to a lack of data availability.