One Person Company

A One Person Company can be formed by a single person i.e one person is enough to form such type of company, where the person would be the Director and Shareholder of the Company. Only additional requirement is he has to appoint a nominee for the company.

One Person Company has been newly introduced in the Companies Act, 2013.

Features of One Person Company:

It is run by individuals yet OPC’s are a separate legal entity similar to that of any registered corporate.
It must have only one member at any point of time and may have only one director.
The member and nominee should be natural persons, Indian Citizens and resident in India. The term “resident in India” means a person who has stayed in India for a period of not less than 182 days during the immediately preceding one calendar year.
One person cannot incorporate more than one OPC or become nominee in more than one OPC.
If a member of OPC becomes a member in another OPC by virtue of his being nominee in that OPC then within 180 days he shall have to meet the eligibility criteria of being Member in one OPC.
No minor shall become member or nominee of the One Person Company or hold share with beneficial interest.
Such Company cannot be incorporated or converted into a company under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.
No such company can convert voluntarily into any kind of company unless 2 years have expired from the date of incorporation, except in cases where capital or turnover threshold limits are reached.
An existing private company other than a company registered under section 8 of the Act which has paid up share capital of Rs. 50 Lakhs or less or average annual turnover during the relevant period is Rs. 2 Crores or less may convert itself into one Person Company by passing a special resolution in the general meeting.

Rules for Incorporating One Person Company:

Only citizen’s of India can start a One Person Company in India or person resident in India i.e a person who stayed in India for a period of not less than One Hundred and Eighty days.
A minor shall not become member or nominee of the One Person Company or can hold share with beneficial interest.
No such company can convert voluntarily into any kind of company unless two years have expired from the date of incorporation of One Person Company, except when threshold limit (paid up share capital) is increased beyond fifty lakh rupees or its average annual turnover during the relevant period exceeds two crore rupees.

Steps in Registration of One Person Company in India:

Four Simple Steps to register your One Person Company:

Apply for Digital Signature Certificate – DSC
Apply and Obtain Director Identification Number- DIN
Application for Company Name-Apply with Six names and any one will be approved by the Registrar of Companies.
Filing of Final forms to Registrar of Companies- After scrutiny of Documents Certificate of Incorporation would be issued.

Reservation of Company Name:

Applying for company is the most important part of Company Registration process. A name of a company should consists of two parts: Prefix & Suffix.

Prefix- Should be unique and should not resemble any of the existing company names.
Suffix- Should reflect the business of your company.
Name of the Company ends with OPC in closed bracket for eg: M/s. XYZ Technologies Private Limited (OPC).
Have to submit six suggested names for the proposed company, where the Registrar of Companies will approve any one of the six and it will valid for 60 days from the date of application.

Impact of OPC in India:

With the introduction of the concept of One Person Company, it has created a lot of confidence for the layman to think about starting his own company.
The reason behind is low cost for registering, limited liability, Corporate Identity and not much corporate compliance has to be maintained.
Most of the Proprietor firms are now being converted into One Person Company. It encourages the entrepreneurs to start his own company and to run his business without the intervention of third parties.
It creates a favorable position for the layman to think about starting a company and this in turn boost up our country’s economy.