Company Name Change
A limited company’s name can be changed due to any reason with the consent of all the shareholders. Regardless of reason and time, the name can be changed but it shall happen under the mutual approval of shareholders. The reason can be anything like change in the vision & the mission of the company, change in management, conversion from private limited to public limited and so on. We shall discuss here the provision of the Companies Act,2013 which deals with the change in the name of the limited company.
Procedure for change of name of company
To get the name of a company changed, you will need to follow the below mentioned steps
Passing a Board Resolution
A board meeting is to be conducted where a resolution should be passed to change the name of the company. The directors should approve the new name and authorise either a director or a company secretary (CS) to check the availability of the new name with the MCA.
Checking the Name Availability
The authorized person / Director of the Company Confirms the availability of the proposed name by making an application to the MCA along with the copy of Board resolution passed in the meeting.
Naming Guidelines under Companies Act 2013 govern this activity.
The proposed name can be reserved through web service RUN- Reserve Unique Name service available on the MCA portal.
Passing Special Resolution / EGM
Once the availability of the new name is confirmed, the company should convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). A special resolution will be passed for changing the name and making appropriate changes to the AoA and the MoA.
Filing of MGT14 & INC24
The special resolution will be submitted to the RoC within 30 days of passing, along with the form MGT-14, which will contain the details related to the special resolution.
Within 30 days of filing the MGT-14, form INC-24 needs to be filed with RoC along with the requisite fee. This is required for obtaining approval from the central government for changing the name. Certain documents also need to be enclosed with these two forms.
Issuance of the Certificate of Incorporation
Upon being completely satisfied with the application and the accompanying documents, the RoC will issue a new certificate of incorporation, reflecting the name change.
This is the simplified version of the whole process. Vakilsearch will take all the drafting, filling out of forms, and filing out of your way to make this process easy for you.
Effects of the Limited Company’s Name Change in India
Change in the company’s name shall not alter any rights & duties of the company. Besides, it shall also not affect and withdrawn any legal proceedings initiated by the company or against the company. This means that such legal proceedings shall be continued in the new name of the company.