How can I find information about a company?

My friend, Aarti, an Angel Investor, was looking for information about a company.

She called me and said “Kruti, I need details about a private company. I am planning to invest in that company.”

“Sure Aarti, tell me, what details do you want?”

“I want details about the directors of the company, since incorporation till date. It is possible to get? The company was incorporated in 1998. However, it has been taken over by another group now.

“Yes, Aarti. We can get the information of first directors as well as directors since 2009. However, I am not sure if we can get details of the directors in between that period since company records for only 8 years. Anyways, let me check.”

“Okay Kruti, will look forward.”

I share the required details with Aarti.

If you are a journalist, a stock researcher, investor, lawyer, you can use this to access company information. 

Here is how you can do it yourself.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has the information about companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) on its website. Any company files information with MCA at the time of incorporation as well as during the course of its business. This is done via various prescribed forms.

You can access all these documents through the website Ministry Of Corporate Affairs.

You can get information about a private company, public company, listed company, section 8 companies and One Person Company (OPC) from this repository. Just to let you know, you can view this information even if you are not a shareholder, a company official or a director on the company’s board.

How to access company information?

You can view the basic information about a company without even logging in.

Here are the steps:

1 – Go to the MCA website

2 – Click on “MCA SERVICES” tab

3 – In “Master Data” section, click on “View Company / LLP Master Data”.

4 – You can either search the company name or mention CIN of the company.

5 – Once you submit the information, you will get basic information about the company, its date of incorporation, its registered office address, its capital etc. E.g. I have chosen Tata Consultancy Services Limited. You will get a page like this.

6- The basic information also includes information about various charges on the company’s assets (such as secured loans, liens, mortgage, pledge, etc.) as well as details of the current directors and signatories.

You can export this information to MS Excel and save it for your records. You can also print the page if you wish to.

However, if you want to view more information, specially of the past affairs, you can access that by paying fees to MCA.

Here are the steps how to do that:

1. Create your login id. Click here to create one.
2. Once you login, you have to Click on “MCA SERVICES” tab.
3. Then click on “Document related services” and then “View public documents”.
4. Type the name of the company for which you want information. If you already have CIN of the company, you can mention the same in the respective column.
5. Click on CIN of the company displayed.
6. Submit the document type and the year.
7. Click on “Add this Company to cart”
8. Pay MCA fees for the same. Currently, INR 100 per company.
9. View the documents in “MY WORKSPACE” tab in your login.
10. You can see the name of the company displayed. You can view various forms filed by the company.

Remember, once you pay fees, is available only for few hours (approx. 3 to 4 hours).

What all information can you access by paying fees?

Here is the list you can refer to find information

Note: You don’t have to pay separately for each of the above forms. Just make one payment and you can access all these documents filed by the company. The above documents are available subject to the filing by the company.

Additionally, you will also find Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association and Certificate of Incorporation once you log in.

However, you will not be able to access Minutes of Board Meetings and Statutory registers maintained by the Company.

Do you need certified true copies of the documents to be used as proofs?

Yes, you can also get CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES of these documents. Just pay additional fees (see the fee screenshot) and then visit the MCA office to get the same.

So, I used the same process to locate and provide the information as required by Aarti.

She was delighted.

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Need help in finding information about a company? You can write to me at kruti@cskruti.com.