INC-20A Declaration for Commencement of Business: 180-Day Due Date, Fees, Penalty & MCA V3 Filing Guide

Every company incorporated on or after 2 November 2018 that has a share capital must file Form INC-20A — the Declaration for Commencement of Business — with the Registrar of Companies within 180 days of its date of incorporation. Until it is filed, the company cannot legally commence business or exercise any borrowing powers. Miss the deadline and two separate costs follow: a late fee on the MCA portal, and a statutory penalty of ₹50,000 on the company plus ₹1,000 per day on every officer in default, capped at ₹1,00,000 per officer.

INC-20A at a glance

1. Who must file INC-20A — and who does not

Section 10A draws a single, sharp line. A company incorporated after the commencement of the provision and having a share capital cannot commence any business or exercise any borrowing powers unless two conditions are met: (a) a director files the INC-20A declaration within 180 days of incorporation, and (b) the company has filed the verification of its registered office required by Section 12(2). Everything in this guide flows from that one section.

That means the filing covers private limited companies, public limited companies and One Person Companies (OPCs) — an OPC has one subscriber with share capital, so it files too. It does not cover a company that has no share capital at all, such as a company limited by guarantee without share capital. Companies incorporated before 2 November 2018 are also outside Section 10A, because the provision had not yet commenced when they were formed.

2. The two conditions in Section 10A — check both before you file

Condition 1 — the declaration itself. A director must declare that every subscriber to the Memorandum of Association (MoA) has paid the value of the shares agreed to be taken by them. Note the word every: if even one subscriber has not paid in full, the declaration cannot truthfully be made. Collect the money first, then declare — not the other way round.

Condition 2 — registered-office verification. The company must have filed the verification of its registered office under Section 12(2). For companies incorporated through SPICe+, the registered-office details in the incorporation form itself serve this purpose, so no separate filing is normally needed. But if the office has moved since incorporation and Form INC-22 for the change has not been filed, sort that out first.

3. INC-20A due date: 180 days from incorporation — and no extension

The clock starts on the date of incorporation printed on your Certificate of Incorporation — not the date you applied through SPICe+, not the date the CIN was generated, and not the date you received the certificate by email. Count 180 calendar days from that date. Weekends and holidays do not pause it, and Section 10A contains no extension provision.

Worked example. A company incorporated on 1 January has its 180th day on 30 June of the same year (non-leap year). File on or before that date. A company incorporated on 1 April reaches day 180 on 28 September. Use the site's INC-20A late fee calculator to pin down your exact date — but always cross-check it against the date on your own Certificate of Incorporation, because that document, not any calculator, is the legal start of the clock.

4. INC-20A fees and late fees: what you actually pay

The normal government fee under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 depends on the company's nominal share capital:

Fee note — read this before you pay. Several current practitioner reports say the MCA V3 portal in practice charges a flat ₹200 for INC-20A regardless of share capital, even though the Fees Rules prescribe the slab above. Both figures circulate, so do not budget on either alone: the fee the portal computes at the payment step is the fee you actually pay. Keep the payment challan either way — if the portal charged differently from the slab, the challan is your proof of what was paid.

File late and the Fees Rules add an additional fee on a sliding scale, as a multiple of the normal fee:

The portal computes the exact total when you file, so use the site's INC-20A fee calculator for an estimate and treat the portal's figure as final. Professional fees for certification are separate and vary — they are not part of the government fee.

5. INC-20A penalty: the late fee is only half the cost

This is the distinction most new companies miss. The portal late fee in Section 4 is a filing cost. Section 10A(2) imposes a separate penalty, decided through adjudication, and paying the late fee does not wipe it out:

There is a third consequence, and it is the serious one. Under Section 10A(3), if no declaration has been filed within 180 days and the Registrar has reasonable cause to believe the company is not carrying on any business or operations, the Registrar may initiate action to remove the company's name from the register under Chapter XVIII (Section 248). A company that filed late but is genuinely operating is in a very different position from a company that never filed and never traded — but neither should test the point. File, even if late: a late filing stops the daily penalty from growing and removes the "no declaration at all" trigger.

6. Documents and readiness checklist — get these before you open the form

INC-20A fails most often on readiness, not on law. Have all of these in hand before you start:

1. Certificate of Incorporation and CIN — the CoI date starts your 180-day clock; the CIN pulls the company's master data into the form.
2. Subscription money in the company's own bank account, from every subscriber, in full. Each subscriber must have paid the value of the shares agreed to be taken. The money must be traceable to the subscriber — a credit in the company's account, not cash handed over informally and not a payment sitting in a director's personal account.
3. Company bank statement showing those credits, kept as your supporting evidence. The V3 form itself asks for subscriber-wise payment details — bank name with IFSC code, account number, date of receipt and amount — so reconcile every credit against the MoA subscriber list before you type anything.
4. Photograph of the registered office — the form's mandatory attachment. It must show the external building and the inside office, with at least one director or key managerial personnel visible in it.
5. A director's Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), registered on MCA V3 against that director's DIN. Without a working DSC, the form cannot be signed.
6. A practising professional to certify the form — a Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary or Cost Accountant holding a Certificate of Practice, with their DSC registered on MCA V3. Rule 23A requires this certification; the form cannot be filed without it.
7. A board resolution authorising the filing (good practice, kept on record) naming the director who will sign the declaration.
8. Registered-office status confirmed — INC-22 filed if the office has changed since incorporation (see Section 2).

7. How to file INC-20A on MCA V3, step by step

1. Log in to MCA V3 at www.mca.gov.in as the director's Business User account, with the DIN associated. If you have not registered on V3 or your DSC is not associated, do that first — see the site's MCA21 V3 login guide for the exact steps.
2. Open the form: MCA Services → Company e-Filing → INC-20A (Declaration for Commencement of Business).
3. Enter the CIN. The portal auto-populates the company name, registered-office address and date of incorporation from MCA master data. Check the incorporation date against your Certificate of Incorporation before going further.
4. Fill in the subscriber payment details for every MoA subscriber: shares agreed to be taken, amount paid, bank name with IFSC code, account number and date of receipt. Every subscriber, every rupee — a missing subscriber is the commonest reason forms come back.
5. Make the director's declaration that every subscriber has paid the value of the shares agreed to be taken, and confirm the registered-office verification position.
6. Attach the registered-office photograph (external building + inside office + director/KMP visible). Attach the bank statement as an optional attachment if the form prompts for supporting proof.
7. Sign with DSCs: the declaring director signs first, and the certifying professional (CA/CS/CMA in practice) verifies and signs with their DSC.
8. Pay the fee shown by the portal (see Section 4 — the portal's computed figure is final) and submit. Note the SRN generated on submission and keep the acknowledgement — that is your proof of filing.
9. Watch for resubmission remarks. If the form is raised for defects, respond within the time the portal gives you. The penalty clock does not pause while a form sits in resubmission, so fix defects immediately rather than at leisure.

8. Common mistakes that cost new companies money

• Filing before the money arrives. A declaration that subscribers "have paid" when they have not is a false declaration, not a shortcut. Collect first, declare second.
• Counting from the wrong date. The clock runs from the Certificate of Incorporation date, not the SPICe+ submission date or the date the certificate reached your inbox.
• Assuming an extension applies. Annual-filing extensions (like GC 05/2026 for AOC-4/MGT-7) do not touch INC-20A. There is no general INC-20A extension in force.
• Confusing the late fee with the penalty. Paying the portal's late fee does not cancel the Section 10A(2) penalty. Budget for both if you file late.
• Starting business or borrowing first. Until INC-20A is filed, the company cannot commence business or exercise borrowing powers. Invoices, contracts and loans signed before filing sit on a shaky legal footing.
• Leaving one subscriber out. The form needs every MoA subscriber accounted for. Reconcile the MoA list against bank credits line by line before submitting.

9. Already late? What to do now

File immediately, even if the 180 days have long passed — the portal accepts late filings with the additional fee from Section 4, and every day you wait adds ₹1,000 per officer to the potential penalty exposure (up to the ₹1,00,000 cap). Then expect the adjudication route: the Registrar may issue a notice under Section 454, to which you reply with the facts, the late filing's SRN and any mitigating circumstances. Do not ignore such a notice. And keep the rest of the company's compliance moving: INC-20A does not replace the first annual filings (AOC-4, MGT-7) when they fall due.

Frequently asked questions

What is the INC-20A due date?
Within 180 days of the date of incorporation shown on the Certificate of Incorporation, for every company with share capital incorporated on or after 2 November 2018.

What are the INC-20A late fees?
An additional fee of 2, 4, 6, 10 or 12 times the normal fee, depending on how far past the due date you file (up to 30 days: 2x; 30–60 days: 4x; 60–90 days: 6x; 90–180 days: 10x; beyond 180 days: 12x). The MCA V3 portal computes the exact amount at payment.

What is the penalty for not filing INC-20A?
Under Section 10A(2): ₹50,000 on the company and ₹1,000 per day on every officer in default, capped at ₹1,00,000 per officer. This penalty is separate from the portal late fee, and prolonged non-filing can also lead the Registrar to start strike-off proceedings under Section 10A(3) if the company appears not to be carrying on business.

What is the INC-20A government fee?
Under the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014, ₹200–₹600 depending on nominal share capital (₹200 below ₹1 lakh, up to ₹600 at ₹1 crore or more). Note that several current reports say MCA V3 charges a flat ₹200 in practice — pay the figure the portal shows and keep the challan.

What documents are required for INC-20A?
Certificate of Incorporation and CIN; subscription money received in the company's bank account from every subscriber; the company bank statement as supporting evidence; a registered-office photograph (external building, inside office, director/KMP visible) as the mandatory attachment; the signing director's DSC; and certification by a practising CA, CS or CMA.

Is a bank statement mandatory for INC-20A?
The V3 form captures subscriber-wise payment details (bank, IFSC, account number, date, amount) in the form itself, and the registered-office photograph is the form's mandatory attachment. Keep the bank statement ready as supporting evidence of every credit and attach it if the form prompts for it — either way, do not file until the credits are actually in the company's account.

Does an OPC need to file INC-20A?
Yes. A One Person Company has share capital and a single subscriber, so Section 10A applies to it exactly as it does to any other company with share capital incorporated on or after 2 November 2018.

What happens if INC-20A is not filed even after 180 days?
The company still files — late, with the additional fee — and the Section 10A(2) penalty exposure (₹50,000 + daily officer penalty up to ₹1,00,000 each) continues until filing. If no declaration is filed and the Registrar has reasonable cause to believe the company is not carrying on business or operations, strike-off proceedings under Chapter XVIII may be initiated.

What is the difference between INC-20A and INC-22?
INC-20A is the commencement-of-business declaration under Section 10A. INC-22 is the notice of the situation (or change) of the registered office under Section 12. They are different filings, but Section 10A requires the Section 12(2) registered-office verification to be in place as well — so a company that moved offices without filing INC-22 should file that first.

Can a company start business before filing INC-20A?
No. Section 10A says a company with share capital cannot commence any business or exercise any borrowing powers until the declaration is filed and the registered-office verification is in place.

Who can certify INC-20A?
Under Rule 23A, the form's contents must be verified by a Company Secretary, Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant in practice — that is, holding a Certificate of Practice — who signs with their DSC registered on MCA V3.

Is there any extension for the INC-20A deadline?
No general extension is in force. The MCA's 2026 annual-filing extension (General Circular No. 05/2026) covers AOC-4 and MGT-7 only and does not change the 180-day INC-20A clock.

Related tools and guides

Estimate your cost and date on the site's INC-20A late fee calculator, check your other deadlines on the Compliance Calendar, and if you are stuck at the portal itself, follow the MCA21 V3 login guide first — most INC-20A filing failures are login or DSC problems, not form problems. Keep the SRN acknowledgement with your statutory records: it is the proof that this declaration was made.

Sources

Companies Act, 2013, Section 10A; Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, Rule 23A; Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014 (fee slabs and late-fee multiples); MCA General Circular No. 05/2026 dated 24 October 2026 (AOC-4/MGT-7 extension only — cited to show INC-20A is not covered); MCA21 V3 portal, www.mca.gov.in. Figures and dates re-checked against these instruments on 4 November 2026; where the portal's live practice differs from the prescribed slab (the flat-₹200 reports), the guide says so rather than picking one figure.