Private Limited Company Registration Online: With a CA or DIY on the MCA Portal?

Last updated 26 September 2026

Can you register a private limited company online yourself, without a CA?

You can do most of the work yourself, but not all of it: a practising Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost and Management Accountant or advocate must sign the professional declaration on SPICe+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus). So a pure do-it-yourself registration is not possible under current law, as of September 2026.

Karan in Surat has a co-founder, a rented flat and a name in mind. He wants to save the professional fee. The MCA V3 portal will let him create the account, draft and fill in the forms and pay online. But the form has to carry the digital signature of a professional engaged in the company's formation, together with the first directors. MCA's own SPICe+ FAQ says so, and Section 7(1)(b) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 38 require it.

A proposed law, the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, would relax this so the declaration is only needed if a professional is engaged. It is pending, not law, so do not plan around it. See private limited company registration for the structure basics.

What does DIY on the MCA V3 portal actually involve?

DIY means you handle name reservation, digital signatures, the e-forms, stamp duty and every query from the Registrar. The MCA portal itself is well organised and free to use for filings, and MCA deserves credit for making incorporation fully electronic. The difficulty is the number of things that must all match at once.

• Class 3 DSC for every director and subscriber signing, bought from a certifying authority.
• DIN for first-time directors, obtained inside the incorporation filing.
• Name reservation (Part A) for up to two names; the MCA fee is ₹1,000 when filed separately.
• e-MoA and e-AoA (INC-33 and INC-34), with specific business objects, and the INC-9 declaration.
• SPICe+ Part B with AGILE-PRO-S (INC-32 and INC-35), which also starts EPFO, ESIC and bank account applications.
• State stamp duty, paid online inside the form; rates vary by state and capital.
• Office proof: a recent utility bill and, if rented, an agreement with the owner's NOC, plus the office location coordinates.
• A professional to sign the declaration.

For the document side, see the documents checklist.

Where does DIY registration usually break?

DIY files most often break on document mismatches, name rejections and DSC or attachment problems, not on the forms themselves. Each rejection sends the file back and adds days, and MCA allows only two resubmissions.

1. Name similarity. A name too close to an existing company, LLP or trademark is refused. See name availability and approval.
2. Address proof. An old bill, a bill not in the owner's name, or a missing or wrongly worded NOC.
3. Vague objects. The business description is too general for the activity you selected.
4. Attachment errors. Illegible scans, oversized PDFs (limit 6 MB each) or forms attached as scans that should be e-forms.
5. Capital or stamp duty mismatch. The MoA capital differs from the form, or stamp duty is computed wrongly.

A useful test before you file: read every document side by side and check that the same name, same address and same capital appear everywhere. If anything differs, fix the source document first rather than hoping the ROC will not notice.

None of these is hard to fix individually. The cost is losing days and being unsure which error the ROC objected to. See registration rejection reasons for the full list.

How do cost and time compare between DIY and a CA-led route?

DIY saves the professional fee on paper, but you still pay for the professional's signature, plus DSC and government charges, so the real saving is smaller than it looks. The government charges are identical either way. The comparison below is as of September 2026.

There is also a hidden cost in DIY: your own time. A first-time filer typically spends hours on reading the instruction kits, matching names across documents, buying and installing DSC drivers and working out the stamp duty for their state. If your hourly value is high, the flat fee often costs less than the time.

Because a signing professional is needed regardless, the real question is whether to pay one only for the signature or for the whole job. For the arithmetic on each line, see the cost and fees guide.

When does DIY preparation make sense, and when is a CA better?

Preparing the paperwork yourself makes sense if you have done an MCA filing before and your case is a plain one: two resident Indian directors, an owned or clearly documented office, and a name you have already checked. A CA-led route is better when speed, certainty or a non-standard case matters.

DIY preparation can work if

• All directors are resident Indians with PAN and Aadhaar.
• You have an office proof that matches on every document.
• You are comfortable with the MCA portal and can find a professional to sign.

A CA-led route is better if

• A director is a foreign national or NRI. See the NRI and foreign national guide.
• Your business needs specific objects or a regulator's approval.
• You are building a startup and want the MoA and AoA drafted with investors in mind. See registration for startups.
• You would rather not lose days to a resubmission.

If a Private Limited is not certain, compare Private Limited vs LLP vs OPC first.

What does Shunya's CA-led route look like for ₹1,999?

Shunya's route is fully online: a practising CA verifies your documents, checks the name, obtains DSC and DIN, drafts the MoA and AoA, files SPICe+ with AGILE-PRO-S, handles ROC queries and delivers your Certificate of Incorporation, PAN and TAN. The professional fee is a flat ₹1,999.

Government fees and state stamp duty are billed separately at actual cost, and confirmed for your state and capital before you pay anything beyond the professional fee. Standard turnaround is 7 to 10 working days from complete documents. If it takes longer than 15 working days from that date, the professional fee is waived.

You can request a free callback, where a CA calls within the hour, or pay the ₹1,999 online. See the Shunya package and inclusions for the exact scope, and the process and timeline guide for what happens step by step. Extras such as GST or trademark are not part of the flat fee; ask on the callback if you need them.

This article is for general information only. For your specific situation, consult a practicing CA.