How to verify an Indian company before signing a contract

Why Indian verification is its own discipline

India has one of the more transparent corporate registries among large emerging markets. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal (MCA21) holds filings on every registered company in the country, identifiers are standardised, and a meaningful amount of information is free to inspect. The difficulty for an overseas buyer is rarely access: it's interpretation.

Filings can run twelve to eighteen months behind. A company shown as active on MCA21 may have already been struck off in subsequent action that hasn't propagated. Trading and tax data sit on a separate system (GST). Director identifiers, disqualification flags and insolvency records each live in their own database. A complete picture requires joining four or five sources, and even then leaves real questions a public record cannot answer.

Step 1 · Get the CIN and read what it tells you

Every Indian company has a 21-character Corporate Identification Number (CIN). It encodes more information than most buyers realise:

• Position 1 — L for listed, U for unlisted
• Positions 2–6 — industry code (NIC classification)
• Positions 7–8 — state of registration
• Positions 9–12 — year of incorporation
• Positions 13–15 — ownership type (PLC, PTC, FTC, NPL, GAT etc.)
• Positions 16–21 — Registrar of Companies sequence number

A counterparty that cannot produce its CIN on request, or whose CIN doesn't match the company name when checked on MCA21, has answered your first verification question without intending to. LLP entities use a similar but distinct LLPIN; sole proprietors and partnership firms have no CIN at all, which is itself a material fact.

Step 2 · Run the company through MCA21

The MCA21 portal hosts the master data, filing history and director details for every registered company. The free "view company master data" lookup is enough for an initial check and confirms:

• Company status — active, dormant, strike off, under process of striking off, liquidation, amalgamated
• Date of incorporation and registered office state
• Authorised and paid-up capital
• Listed industrial activity (NIC code)
• Names and DINs of directors
• Whether the latest annual return and financial statements have been filed

The status to watch is under process of striking off. A company in this state is technically still registered but is being removed by the Registrar, usually for non-filing of returns. It is not someone you want to contract with on credit terms.

Step 3 · Cross-check the GSTIN

The MCA record tells you a company exists. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) record tells you it is currently trading. These are separate systems and they don't always agree, which is itself diagnostic.

Every trading entity above a threshold has a 15-digit GSTIN linked to its PAN (which appears as digits 3–12 of the GSTIN). The free GST portal lookup confirms registration status, registered place of business, the constitution of business (which should match what MCA shows), and date of registration.

What you're checking for: an active MCA company with no GSTIN (unusual outside dormant entities); a GSTIN that has been cancelled or suspended; a registered address on the GST record that doesn't match the address on the MCA record; or a constitution shown as proprietorship on GST when the counterparty is selling themselves as a private limited company.

Step 4 · Check directors and disqualifications

Every Indian director has a Director Identification Number (DIN). The MCA21 portal allows a DIN lookup that returns the other companies in which the same individual holds a directorship, which can reveal group structures the counterparty hasn't disclosed, including dormant or struck-off entities sharing the same directors.

The MCA also publishes a list of disqualified directors. A current or recent directorship held by a disqualified individual, or a company whose directors are repeatedly associated with struck-off entities, deserves a closer look before any commitment.

Step 5 · Check the IBBI insolvency record

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) maintains the public database of companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, including corporate insolvency resolution processes, liquidations and concluded cases. The database is searchable by company name and CIN.

A company with an active CIRP or a recent liquidation outcome is not necessarily uncontractable (the resolution professional, if appointed, may be running ordinary trade), but the situation needs to be understood before any decision, not after.

Where the public record runs out

The five steps above will catch outright fictions, struck-off shells and obvious mismatches between what a counterparty claims and what the registers show. They will not tell you:

• The current financial position. MCA financial filings often run a full year behind. For private limited companies the figures filed are also the only ones in the public domain: they are not audited again externally.
• Whether the registered address is the operating address. A registered office in one state and a factory in another is common and entirely lawful, but the buyer needs to know which premises is actually doing the work.
• Court records below the High Court level. District court filings, consumer forums and tribunal cases are largely off the MCA radar but can be material to a credit decision.
• Bank account verification. A counterparty asking for payment to an account name that doesn't match the registered company name is a serious red flag, and one only direct verification can confirm.
• Trade payment behaviour. Supplier disputes, slow payment patterns and disputed invoices don't appear in any registry but are knowable through local reference checks.
• Beneficial ownership through holding structures. Direct shareholders are public; the real human beneficial owners behind layered Mauritius, Singapore or domestic holding companies are usually not.

Public records confirm a company is real. They don't confirm it is currently the company the counterparty says it is.

What an India company report adds

An India company credit report is investigated by a local agent and can assemble the picture from the systems above and local research. Typical research and case-specific information can include:

• Verification that the registered office and operating premises are genuine
• Up-to-date financial position with commentary, including charges and secured borrowing
• Director and group-structure cross-references including shared DINs and struck-off connections
• Litigation history across higher courts and relevant tribunals
• Trade and banker references (where available)
• An independent credit rating and calculated credit limit
• A risk assessment in plain English suitable for a procurement or compliance file

Reports are delivered in English. The subject company is not informed about you making the enquiry. Turnaround starts at two working days.