Register A Public Company

A Public Limited Company under Company Act 2013 is a company where the liability of the member is limited liability and offers shares to the general public. Its stock can be acquired by anyone, either privately through (IPO) initial public offering or via trades on the stock market. A Public Limited Company is strictly regulated and is required to publish its true financial status to the shareholders and general public at large.

• Members – Public Company shall have minimum 7 shareholders, however there is no limit on the maximum number of the shareholders.
• Limited Liability - The liability of the shareholders/directors is limited to the extent amount unpaid on the shares owned by them. The shareholders are not liable personally in case of losses or debts suffered by the company.
• Perpetual succession - The Company keeps on going concern in the eyes of law irrespective of death, insolvency, the bankruptcy of any of its members. This leads to the perpetual succession of the company. The life of the company keeps on existing forever.
• Index of members – A Public Company is required to maintain an index of its members.
• Number of directors - In case of public company, there shall be minimum 3 Directors and maximum can be as many subject to 15. They must possess the Director Identification Number (DIN) which is issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
• Paid-up capital – The public company may be incorporated with minimum capital of Rs. 3.
• Prospectus - A public limited company can issue a prospectus for inviting the public to subscribe to its shares. Prospectus is the statement comprising the detail information about the company and the number of shares invited by the company in that particular IPO or subsequent listing.
• Name - In the name of the public company ends with the word “Ltd” or “Limited”.

• Section 2(71) of the Companies Act, 2013 ;
• Companies Incorporation Rules, 2014 ;

Section 2(71) of the Companies Act, 2013 states that a "Public Company" means a company which : -

• is not a private company ;
• has a minimum paid-up share capital, as may be prescribed ;

Provided that a company which is a subsidiary of a company, not being a private company, shall be deemed to be public company for the purposes of this Act even where such subsidiary company continues to be a private company in its articles ;

• High Credibility : The investors find the public limited company to be more reliable and trustworthy, increasing its credibility.
• Tax Efficient : A public Company gets various tax benefits like tax-deductible costs and other allowances. On paying off the corporation tax, the company is saved from paying high-income tax.
• Limited Liability : The shareholders are not liable to pay the company’s debts or losses beyond their investment value in case of insolvency or bankruptcy.
• Additional Capital : Public Company can easily raise finance from different source, whether domestic or international to meet the capital requirement of the business.
• Expert Board of Directors : the board of directors comprising of expert and talented people those are nominated and appointed by the Board or committee constituted for the said purpose.
• Business Growth and Expansion : The acquisition of additional by issuing of shares, provide financial strength to the business and develops the scope of growth.
• Easy Share Trading : The shares of a public limited company can be bought or sold in seconds on the stock exchange market. Thus, making it convenient for the investors and shareholders to acquire a part of the company.
• Risk Spreading : Since, there are many shareholders owning small portions in the company, the risk of loss and insolvency is also widespread among them.