Most enquiries about an Indian company start with its master data on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal at mca.gov.in. Practitioners often call it the "master copy". It is free, quick and useful. It is also a summary, and a summary can be out of date, incomplete or simply wrong.
This guide explains what each part of the master data tells you, what it cannot tell you, and when you need to go to the filed documents instead.
Where the master data comes from
The Registrar of Companies (ROC) does not prepare the master data by investigating the company. Most fields are populated from the e-forms the company itself files: the incorporation forms, change of registered office, changes in directors, allotments, alterations of capital, annual filings and charge forms.
That has two consequences:
- A field is only as current as the last relevant filing. If a company changed directors but no DIR-12 is on file, the master data will still show the old board.
- A field is only as accurate as the filer. The ROC processes many forms on a straight-through basis without scrutiny of the contents CHECK: confirm which V3 forms are straight-through processed (STP) and which are approved by an ROC officer.
Basic master data can usually be viewed without paying a fee. The portal has at times required a login for some views CHECK: confirm current login requirement for master data on V3.
What the company master data shows
The fields shown for a company typically include the following CHECK: field names as currently displayed on V3:
- CIN: the 21-character Corporate Identity Number. It encodes listing status, industry code, state, year of incorporation, ownership type and registration number.
- Company name, ROC and registration number.
- Category, sub-category and class: for example, company limited by shares, non-government, private.
- Date of incorporation.
- Authorised capital and paid-up capital.
- Registered office address and email address on record.
- Whether listed.
- ACTIVE compliance: whether the company has filed e-form INC-22A under rule 25A of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014.
- Date of last AGM and date of balance sheet: taken from the latest annual filings on record.
- Company status: for example Active, Strike Off, Under Process of Striking Off, Amalgamated, Dormant, Under Liquidation, Converted to LLP CHECK: exact status labels used on V3.
- Signatory or director details: current directors and other signatories with DIN or PAN, designation and date of appointment.
- Index of charges: charges registered with the ROC, with charge ID, charge holder, amount and dates of creation, modification and satisfaction.
For an LLP, the master data shows the LLPIN, partners and designated partners, total obligation of contribution, main business activity, status, and the years of the last Form 8 (statement of account and solvency) and Form 11 (annual return) on record.
What each field can and cannot tell you
Status
Status is the most important single field. "Active" means the company has not been struck off, dissolved or amalgamated on the register. It does not mean the company is compliant, solvent or trading.
"Under Process of Striking Off" means the ROC has started the strike-off process under s.248 of the Companies Act, 2013, either on its own motion or on the company's application. Treat this as a stop signal for any transaction until you understand why.
The status field is not a reliable indicator of insolvency proceedings. Check the NCLT and IBBI records separately CHECK: whether V3 master data reflects CIRP or liquidation under the IBC, and how quickly.
Capital
Authorised and paid-up capital tell you the size of the share capital as last reported. They do not tell you who the shareholders are. For that you need the annual return (MGT-7 or MGT-7A) and allotment returns (PAS-3).
A mismatch is itself a finding. If paid-up capital in the master data differs from the figure in the latest balance sheet, look for allotments or reductions where the form is not on file.
Date of last AGM and date of balance sheet
These two dates are the quickest compliance check available. If the date of balance sheet is several years old, the company's financial statements for later years are probably not on file. That matters because s.164(2)(a) disqualifies directors where a company fails to file financial statements or annual returns for a continuous period of three financial years.
Do not rely on these dates alone. They can be blank for companies that migrated from older systems, and they do not tell you whether the filings that were made were complete.
Directors and signatories
The list shows current directors as recorded. It usually does not show former directors, and it says nothing about shareholding, control or beneficial ownership. Significant beneficial ownership is reported separately in BEN-2 under s.90.
Click through to the DIN where you can. A DIN may be marked as deactivated for non-compliance with the director KYC requirement under rule 12A of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules, 2014, or flagged for disqualification CHECK: current DIN status labels on V3.
Index of charges
The index lists only charges registered with the ROC under s.77. It will not show security that was never registered, security registered only with CERSAI or a sub-registrar, personal guarantees by promoters, or corporate guarantees given by the company. An "open" charge may relate to a loan that has been repaid but whose satisfaction (CHG-4) is not on file. Our guide on reading charges covers this in detail.
What the master data does not tell you at all
The master data is silent on most things a lawyer or lender actually needs:
- Financials: revenue, profit, net worth, borrowings and auditor's qualifications. These are in the AOC-4 and its attachments.
- Shareholding: who owns the company and in what proportion.
- History: past directors, past registered offices, past names and past capital changes.
- Litigation and regulatory action: court cases, tax demands, adjudication orders, prosecution, or insolvency petitions.
- Content of resolutions and agreements filed as attachments to e-forms.
- Whether a particular filing was complete: master data reflects that a form was processed, not that its attachments are what they claim to be.
When to go to the documents
Use the master data to decide whether to go further, and to plan what to pull. Go to the filed documents through "View Public Documents" whenever you need to rely on a fact for advice, a transaction, a loan or a pleading.
Inspection of documents kept by the Registrar is permitted under s.399 of the Act and rules 14 and 15 of the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. On the portal this requires a login and a per-company fee, ₹100 for a company and ₹50 for an LLP at the time of writing CHECK: current fee on V3, and whether it is per company per inspection. Where the record matters in proceedings, consider certified copies rather than downloads CHECK: current procedure and fee for certified copies on V3.
A practical habit: save a dated screenshot or PDF of the master data whenever you rely on it. It changes without notice, and you may later need to show what it said on a given day.
A short checklist
- Confirm the CIN or LLPIN and exact name.
- Read the status first.
- Compare the date of balance sheet and date of last AGM against today.
- Note the ACTIVE compliance flag.
- Note authorised and paid-up capital, then compare with the latest financial statements.
- List the directors and check each DIN.
- Read the index of charges, open and satisfied.
- Decide which documents you need and pull them.
NyayAssist MCA reads the master data and the filed documents together and links each value in a company profile to the filing it came from, which makes the gaps between the two easier to see.
Skip the portal. Give NyayAssist the CIN and read the cited profile.