Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia (West, South & Central) |
| ISO 3166-1 | IN / IND |
| Registry | MCA / RoC |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in India and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | PAN | Income Tax Department |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | CIN / LLPIN | MCA / RoC |
Sector regulators
RBI · SEBI · IRDAI · PFRDA · FIU-IND
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Public Limited Company | Ltd | Unlimited shareholders; mandatory board (min. 3 directors); shares freely transferable and may list on BSE/NSE. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Private Limited Company | Pvt Ltd | Closely-held company with 2–200 shareholders; shares not freely transferable; cannot raise public equity. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| One Person Company | OPC | Single natural-person shareholder/director with limited liability; nominee required; subject to revenue and paid-up capital thresholds. Equivalent to a US SMLLC. |
| Section 8 Company | — | Non-profit incorporated under Companies Act 2013 §8; prohibited from distributing dividends; licensed by Central Government for charitable/educational objects. Equivalent to a US Nonprofit Corporation (501(c)(3)). |
| Nidhi Company | — | Mutual-benefit deposit-taking company registered under Companies Act 2013 §406 and Nidhi Rules 2014; may only lend to and borrow from its own members; share capital required. Equivalent to a US specialized financial C-Corp. |
| Producer Company | — | Share-capital company formed exclusively by primary producers (farmers, artisans) under Companies Act 2013 §§378A–378ZZZ; separate legal personality with limited liability. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| Limited Liability Partnership | LLP | Separate legal entity governed by the LLP Act 2008; partners have limited liability; registered with MCA via FiLLiP and assigned an LLPIN. Equivalent to a US LLP. |
| Partnership Firm | — | Two or more persons sharing profits and unlimited personal liability under the Partnership Act 1932; registration with the Registrar of Firms is optional but common. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP). |
| Sole Proprietorship | — | Single individual trading in their own name or under a trade name; no separate legal entity; no mandatory central registration (identity established via GST, Shops & Establishments, or trade licence). Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Cooperative Society | — | Democratically governed member-owned entity registered under state Co-operative Societies Acts or the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act 2002; profits distributed as patronage dividends. Equivalent to a US Cooperative. |
| Branch / Liaison / Project Office (Foreign Company) | — | Place of business in India established by a foreign company under Companies Act 2013 §§379–393 and RBI/FEMA approval; not a separate legal entity—the foreign parent remains liable. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Certificate of Incorporation |
| Constitutive Documents | All required: Memorandum of Association + Articles of Association |
| Tax Registration | PAN Certificate |
| Operating Permit | Shops & Establishments Certificate |
| Ownership Records | Register of Members |
| Governance Records | All required: Form DIR-12 + MCA21 Director Master Data |
| Signing Authority | All required: Board Resolution + Notarised Power of Attorney |
| Address | Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Incorporation (MCA21 / RoC) | Legal Registration |
| Memorandum of Association | Constitutive Documents |
| AoA (INC-34) filed via SPICe+ (INC-32) | Constitutive Documents |
| PAN Certificate (Income Tax Dept.) | Tax Registration |
| Shops & Establishments Certificate (state Labour Dept.) | Operating Permit |
| Register of Members | Ownership Records |
| Form DIR-12 | Governance Records |
| MCA21 Director Master Data | Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| Notarised Power of Attorney | Signing Authority |
| Lease Agreement | Address |
| Utility Bill (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Bank Statement (≤90 days old) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | RBI Authorisation |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Download via MCA V3 Master Data using CIN or LLPIN.
- Constitutive Documents: Paired e-forms; always collected together. LLPs file LLP Agreement instead.
- Tax Registration: Primary ID. Supplement with GSTIN certificate (gst.gov.in) for GST-registered entities; multi-state entities hold multiple GSTINs.
- Operating Permit: No national operating licence. Each state enacts its own Shops and Establishments Act; certificate content, fees, and renewal vary.
- Sector-Specific License: Collect whichever applies. RBI PA-CB licence mandatory for cross-border payment aggregators per Oct 2023 RBI Directions.
- Governance Records: DIN required per director. Also collect DIN of each Designated Partner for LLPs (DPIN, same number series).
- Signing Authority: CS must be whole-time ICSI-qualified (CA 2013 §203 + Rule 8A).
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Director | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Named officer with day-to-day authority; DIN required (CA 2013 §153). |
| Managing Director (MD) / Whole-Time Director (WTD) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive director with substantial management powers. |
| CEO / CFO | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) under CA 2013 §203. |
| Independent Director (ID) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Non-executive governance role; mandatory for listed/large companies. |
| Designated Partner (LLP) | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Personally liable for LLP compliance; signs statutory filings. |
| Authorised Signatory | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Named in Board Resolution / POA to bind the company. |
Notes
- “Significant influence” extends to MNC parent CEOs — 2024 RoC adjudication orders (LinkedIn India, May 2024; Samsung Display Noida) held that professional CEOs of ultimate parent companies constitute SBOs under the “significant influence” prong of CA 2013 §90, regardless of direct equity. Verify full upstream governance chain for wholly-owned subsidiaries of foreign MNCs.
- Dual identifier format (CIN vs. LLPIN) — companies and LLPs use entirely different registration number formats; businessEntityId validation must branch on entity type.
- No national operating licence — there is no central “licence to operate.” The Shops & Establishments certificate is state-specific; each Indian state enacts its own Act. Multi-state entities hold multiple certificates. Accept any valid state-level S&E certificate.
- Multi-state GSTIN — a single company operating in N states holds N GSTINs, all derived from the same PAN. Do not treat multiple GSTINs as multiple companies; always anchor identity to PAN.