Company name availability: how to check, and why names get rejected

On the MCA portal, open MCA Services, Company Services, Check Company Name. Enter the distinctive part of the proposed name, without Private Limited, and review every company and LLP returned, including those struck off. Repeat with variations in spelling and with each significant word alone. The search is a text match; it does not apply the similarity rules below.

A name identical or similar to a registered trade mark, or one applied for, in the same line of business is undesirable under the rules and will be refused unless the owner consents. Run the wordmark and phonetic searches described in our trade mark search guide in the classes that match your activity; our class finder gives the classes. A company name that slips through and infringes a mark can still be ordered changed within three years on the mark owner’s application.

Rule 8 of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014 treats a name as identical to an existing one if the only differences are:

• Plural or singular forms, or different tenses: Green Tech and Greens Tech.
• Spacing, punctuation, letter case or joining of words: Sun Rise and Sunrise.
• Words like Private, Limited, LLP, Company, Corporation, India, Group or a place name added or removed, unless it is part of a group with consent.
• Phonetic spelling: Kwik and Quick.
• Order of words: Ravi Builders and Builders Ravi.
• A translation of an existing name into another language.
• The addition of an internet suffix such as .com or .in.

The descriptive part of the name must also match the objects: a name with Finance, Capital or Technologies needs objects to match, and a name that suggests a regulated activity draws the regulator in.

Refused outright under Rule 8A: names that are offensive, that suggest a connection with a government, embassy or international body, that include the name of a national hero or a person of national importance without consent, that are identical to a company dissolved within the last two years or struck off within the last twenty, or that are vague abbreviations without explanation.

Need prior approval of the Central Government under Rule 8B: Board, Commission, Authority, Undertaking, National, Union, Central, Federal, Republic, President, Rashtrapati, Small Scale Industries, Khadi and Village Industries Corporation, Financial Corporation, Municipal, Panchayat, Development Authority, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Minister, Nation, Forest Corporation, Development Scheme, Statute, Court, Judiciary, Governor, and the name of any government scheme.

Need a regulator’s no-objection: Bank and Banking from the Reserve Bank; Insurance from IRDAI; Stock Exchange, Mutual Fund, Venture Capital and Asset Management from SEBI; and Nidhi and Chit Fund need the corresponding objects.

The Central Registration Centre usually decides in one to three working days. One resubmission is allowed within 15 days if the names are rejected; after that the fee is lost and a fresh application is needed. State the significance of the name and attach any trade mark registration or owner’s consent with the first application.

• Lead with a coined or uncommon word; add one descriptive word that matches the objects.
• Avoid initials, single generic words and names built from a city plus an industry.
• Check the .com and .in domains and the main social handles at the same time, so that the company, the brand and the web address can match.
• If the brand matters, file the trade mark application alongside the incorporation rather than after it.

Name search, reservation and incorporation are part of our company registration from ₹1,499; a change of name for an existing company is handled under company name change.