SPICE+ and AGILE PRO
These Amendment Rules shall come into force from 23.02.2020 and are available here: https://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/rule_22022020.pdf The salient features of the Rules are as follows:
- SPICE+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus: INC-32), and AGILE PRO (Application for Goods and services tax Identification number, employees state Insurance corporation registration pLus Employees provident fund organization registration, Profession tax Registration and Opening of bank account) have been introduced. SPICE+ is a web-based form available post login.
- Reservation for name shall be made only through the SPICE+ form. This is available as SPICE+ Part A. Two names in the order of preference are allowed just like in the case of RUN. SPICE+ Part A can be submitted separately and thereafter submit Part B. The fields required are type, class, category, sub-category of company, main division of industrial activity and particulars of approved name.
- If both Parts A and B are to be filed together, only one name can be proposed.
- For names already generated through RUN, normal SPICE form should be used.
- For change of name, the existing RUN facility shall be used.
- Part B of SPICE+ Form and AGILE PRO contain a bouquet of services namely incorporation, DIN allotment, mandatory PAN, mandatory TAN, mandatory EPFO, mandatory ESIC, mandatory Professional Tax Registration (Maharashtra), optional GST, mandatory opening of bank account.
- Part B is divided into different sections like structure of company, director details, PAN, TAN information, attachments, etc. Save and continue has to be selected after each section.
- The form can be saved and then reused. Checking and pre-scrutiny happens online.
- Once SPICE+ is filled completely, on clicking submit button, the same would be converted into PDF for affixing DSCs.
- Linked forms like AGILE-PRO, eMoA, eAoA, URC-1, INC-9 get pre-filled based on details in SPICE+ and get enabled only when all relevant information is filled in Part B and submit button is clicked. These are also available as web-services. On clicking submit button, the forms would be converted into PDF for affixing DSCs.
- AGILE-PRO is mandatory for all cases of incorporation. It is to be noted that bank account opening is compulsory. As of now, Punjab National Bank has gone live with this facility. Soon, other banks are expected to join. Additional bank accounts can be opened after incorporation with any bank the company chooses. The bank account opened through SPICE+ can be closed later, if not warranted.
- If subscriber and director details are less than 20, Form INC-9 shall get auto-populated by the system and download option will be automatically available. There is no information to be entered by user; it just needs to be downloaded for affixing DSCs.
- Then the normal procedure for filing with the linked forms has to be followed. SRN is then generated. Then payment has to be made.
- SPICE+ dashboard has been created which provides list of applications made with application number (not SRN number), proposed name, last modified date.
- Modifications can be made any number of times before clicking of Submit button. However, after clicking of Submit button, maximum 5 modifications can be made and 5 revised PDFs can be generated.
- There is no change in incorporation fees. For separate submission of Part A for name reservation, Rs.1,000/- shall continue.
- The form shall be processed in non-STP mode.
- Size limit for SPICE+ continues to be 6M
- SPICE+ can be used for getting Section 8 licence for new companies.
- The signatory for EPFO, ESIC and bank account needs to be a director who is an Indian citizen and resident with Indian mobile number.
The Compliance Office 