India company search: MCA21 (mca.gov.in)

TL;DR. India’s official business registry is MCA21, run by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than the register, so the search, fees and login screens could not be read; confirm at source. Fees in this guide are unknown rather than free. This page does not prescribe a screening workflow.

What is the official India business registry?

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) maintains India’s central company registry under the Companies Act 2013. The public-facing system is MCA21, at https://www.mca.gov.in. That address served a page titled Access Denied rather than the register. The registry name and operator below are the statutory labels, which could not be read back from a search page; confirm at source.

All companies incorporated in India are assigned a Corporate Identity Number (CIN) at registration. This 21-character alphanumeric code encodes the entity’s listing status, industry classification, state, year of incorporation, company type, and registry sequence number. CIN is the primary identifier in MCA filings.

The Registrar of Companies (ROC) operates under MCA and processes incorporations, annual filings, and charge registrations. There are 25 ROCs across India, with jurisdiction allocated by state or union territory.

What can you search?

https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than a search form, so the fields could not be confirmed. Statutory filings under the Companies Act 2013 have historically included company name, CIN, DIN, LLPIN, and charge documents; confirm at source.

How much does it cost?

https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than a fee table, so the table above reads unknown rather than free; confirm at source.

Do you need a local account or ID?

Not confirmed. https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than a search form or a login screen, so an account is shown as optional rather than as not needed.

Is the website in English?

Partially. The refusal page is titled Access Denied, in English. The registry screens themselves could not be read.

What’s the turnaround time?

Unknown. No turnaround time could be read behind the Access Denied page; confirm at source.

Is there an API?

No public API could be confirmed, because https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than a developer page; confirm at source.

What you legally cannot do

MCA’s Terms of Use and the Companies Act 2013 prohibit:

• Bulk automated scraping of MCA21 public interfaces
• Republishing or reselling MCA documents as a data product without authorisation
• Representing downloaded documents as “certified” unless they carry the ROC’s digital signature
• Using director data for unsolicited marketing or solicitation

Section 399 of the Companies Act 2013 governs the right of inspection of documents. Any person may inspect documents on payment of the prescribed fee. Bulk systematic extraction for commercial redistribution is not covered by this right and may constitute a breach of MCA’s terms.

Compliance buyers conducting CDD, UBO verification, or KYC for their own counterparty review are within the intended use. Documenting the stated purpose of each retrieval is a normal part of an internal audit trail.

Practical tips for foreign users

https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than the register:

• CIN is the identifier. Name searches in India return multiple entities with similar names. Request the CIN from your counterparty before starting a search when the portal serves the register.
• Annual returns vs. financial statements. Indian private companies file MGT-7 (annual return) and AOC-4 (balance sheet and P&L) as separate forms. MGT-7 shows shareholding; AOC-4 shows financials.
• Section 8 companies (Indian equivalents of non-profit companies) have “not for profit” in their object clauses. Their financials are filed but may not show trading revenue.
• CIN vs LLPIN. Companies registered under the Companies Act 2013 carry a CIN (21 characters, starting with the listing status indicator L or U). Limited Liability Partnerships registered under the LLP Act 2008 carry an LLPIN (starting with “AAA” followed by four digits and two check characters). These are distinct identifiers for distinct legal forms.
• Charges register. Registered liens and hypothecations against company assets appear in charge filings under the Companies Act 2013; those screens were not read here.

Alternatives if you cannot access MCA21 directly

• Tofler (tofler.in). A commercial aggregator that repackages MCA21 data into structured company reports. Data lags the primary source.

Local data suppliers

If you need a packaged report rather than a raw MCA21 extract, India has a set of established providers:

• Tofler (tofler.in). Operated by TWS Systems Private Limited. Provides structured Indian company intelligence including financial trend analysis, director networks, charge data, and “Company 360” reports sourced from MCA filings. Covers over 200,000 active companies. Targets SMEs and compliance buyers who want a formatted report rather than raw MCA downloads.

• CRIF High Mark (crifhighmark.com). An RBI-licensed credit information company and subsidiary of CRIF S.p.A. (Italy). Provides business credit scores, commercial credit reports, and lending market intelligence across banks, NBFCs, and financial institutions. Use when you need payment behaviour, credit facilities outstanding, and risk scoring layered on top of the MCA registration extract.

• Dun & Bradstreet India (dnb.co.in). Part of the global D&B network. Issues D-U-N-S Numbers for Indian entities, provides company intelligence reports, supplier risk assessments, and trade credit reference reports. Use for counterparty due diligence in supply chain and procurement contexts, or when a counterparty requires a D-U-N-S-based credit assessment.

• Experian India (experian.in). Indian subsidiary of Experian plc. Licensed credit information company under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2005. Provides commercial credit reports alongside consumer bureau services. Use when you need a formal bureau-issued credit score for a commercial entity rather than the self-reported financial data in MCA filings.

MCA21 is the statutory filing record when the portal serves the register. A credit bureau is a separate product for payment behaviour or risk scoring. This page does not prescribe a supplier.

FAQ

Can a foreign company access India’s MCA21 registry?

https://www.mca.gov.in served a page titled Access Denied rather than the register. Any person, including a foreign individual or entity, is described in the Companies Act as able to inspect documents on payment of the prescribed fee; confirm at source. This page does not prescribe a retrieval path.

What is a CIN number and how do I find it?

A Corporate Identity Number (CIN) is the 21-character alphanumeric code assigned to every Indian company at incorporation. It encodes listing status, state, year, company type, and registry sequence. Section 12 of the Companies Act 2013 requires the CIN on letterhead, invoices, and the website footer; ask the Indian company directly. The Find CIN screen was not read; confirm at source.

Is the free MCA21 search enough for basic due diligence?

Fees could not be read behind the Access Denied page, so a search is not described as free here. Annual return and financial-statement filings are the statutory sources for credit, AML or beneficial ownership verification; confirm at source. This page does not prescribe enhanced due diligence.

How current is the data on MCA21?

MCA21 reflects filings as processed by the ROC. Companies are required to file annual returns within 60 days of the AGM and financial statements within 30 days of the AGM. In practice, many private companies file late or receive extensions. Data for a given financial year may not appear on MCA21 until 6 to 12 months after the year-end. Master-data update timing is not published here; confirm at source.

Is FATF relevant to Indian company registry access?

Confirm at fatf-gafi.org. This guide does not restate a listing it could not read. Under Companies Act amendments in 2020 and 2022, Indian companies must file BEN-2 declarations for qualifying beneficial owners (those holding 10% or more of shares, voting rights, or economic interests, defined under the SBO Rules 2018). Those filings were not read here; confirm at source. This page does not prescribe enhanced due diligence.

What happens if a company is “struck off” from the MCA register?

A company struck off under Section 248 of the Companies Act 2013 has been removed from the register, typically for failure to commence business or persistent non-filing of annual returns. A struck-off company can no longer enter contracts or conduct business. Directors of struck-off companies may be disqualified for up to 5 years. Restoration is possible through an application to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) within 20 years of the strike-off for a defunct company, or under a shorter window for restoration by the ROC.

Are LLPs and partnership firms on MCA21?

Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) are registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008. The Find LLPIN screen was not read; confirm at source. General partnerships and sole traders are not on MCA21; they register with state-level authorities and have no central national registry. For those entity types, state commercial tax registrations or GST registration (GSTIN) are the closest public identifiers available.

Last verified: 2026-09-15. Sources: www.mca.gov.in, which served a page titled Access Denied rather than the register. Statutory operator: Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Confirm FATF listing at source. For the full global due diligence framework, see our Global Business Due Diligence Guide.