The Short Answer
Reserving a company name through a separate SPICe+ Part A filing carries a government fee of Rs 1,000. If you apply for the name within the combined incorporation filing instead, there is no separate name reservation charge, because it forms part of the incorporation submission. Extensions carry their own prescribed fees in tiers. The fee is not refundable if the name is rejected, which is the single most useful thing to know before you file a name you have not screened.
The fees
Item | Fee |
SPICe+ Part A, filed separately for a new company | Rs 1,000 |
Name applied for within the combined incorporation filing | No separate name reservation charge |
RUN, existing company changing its name | Rs 1,000 |
MCA name search, screening only | Free |
Extension of a reserved name | Prescribed fee in tiers, see below |
Extension fees
A name reserved for incorporation can be extended before it expires, on payment of the prescribed fee. The fees are tiered according to how far you are extending and when you apply, with a higher fee for a longer extension and for applying later in the period.
Extensions must be applied for before the current reservation expires. Once it lapses, the name is released and you apply again from the beginning, with a fresh fee.
What is not refundable
The name reservation fee is not refunded if your name is rejected. You pay to have the name examined, not to have it approved.
This is why screening matters more than the fee itself. Rs 1,000 is not a large sum. A week lost, repeated twice because you filed three unscreened names in sequence, is expensive in a way that does not appear on any invoice.
Where this sits in the total cost
Name reservation is a small line in your incorporation cost. The larger items are state stamp duty on the memorandum and articles, digital signatures for each director, and the professional fee. The MCA charges no incorporation filing fee where authorised capital is up to Rs 15 lakh.
Our article on registration fees sets out the full breakdown.
The decision the fee should influence
Filing Part A separately costs Rs 1,000 and gives you two name options plus confirmation before you prepare everything else. Filing together with Part B avoids the separate charge but allows only one name.
If your name is distinctive and you have screened it on both the MCA register and the trademark database, file together. If there is any resemblance or trademark risk, pay the Rs 1,000 and keep the second option. It is cheap insurance against a lost week.
How Northrop LLP helps
Northrop LLP screens your names before anything is filed, so you pay the fee once. Government fees are passed on at actuals and shown to you separately from our professional fee.