Get the details of the company from CIN

It consists of a 21-digit alpha numeric code and is issued to companies registered in India, including:

• Private Limited Companies (PLCs)
• One Person Companies (OPCs)
• Companies owned by the Government of India
• State Government Companies
• Not-for-Profit Section 8 Company
• Nidhi Companies, etc.

Note that a CIN is not provided to Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) registered in India. If you have an LLP, you will receive an LLPIN (Limited Liability Partnership Identification Number), a unique 7-digit identification number.

What are the different sections of a CIN?

The 21 digits of a CIN represent information about a company and are broken down into six sections. The sections and the details they provide are as follows:

• Section 1: This section consists of the first character of the CIN and reveals whether a company is 'listed' or 'unlisted' on the Indian stock market. The former is denoted by 'L' and the latter by 'U'.
• Section 2: This section, consisting of the next five digits, showcases the economic activity of a company or the industry to which it belongs.
• Section 3: Consisting of two letters, this section denotes the Indian state where the company is registered.
• Section 4: This section comprises four numeric digits that signify the year in which the company was incorporated.
• Section 5: This section consists of the next three letters that indicate whether a company is a private or public limited company.
• Section 6: Consisting of the last six numeric digits, this section denotes the registration number issued by the Registrar of Companies.

CIN is issued to track all the activities and other aspects of a company, right from its incorporation. No matter what kind of transactions your company initiates with the Registrar of Companies, you must provide a CIN. Since the 21-digit number is unique and has its meaning, it is useful to find out basic information about a company. It can be used to track and identify companies or discover additional information about an organisation registered under the Registrar of Companies. Thus, you have to provide a CIN on almost all useful documents about your company for identification and tracking purposes. These documents include invoices, bills, notices, memos, letterheads, annual reports, official publications, etc. Hence, having a CIN becomes integral to your daily business activities. Now that you know more about CIN meaning make sure your company has one and use it when required.