Central processing centre: The government has initiated the central processing centre for handling filings under the Companies Law and LLP Act in a ''time-bound and faceless manner'' to enhance the ease of doing business.

Initially, the Central Processing Centre (CPC) will process 12 forms and applications under the act. Starting on April 1, other forms and applications will also be processed through the centre.

''As of now, 4,910 forms have been received by CPC after commencing operations. The forms shall be processed in a time-bound and faceless manner,'' the corporate affairs ministry said in a release on Friday.

Future plans include centralising forms and applications filed under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act.

The ministry estimates that once fully operational, CPC will process about 2.50 lakh forms annually, based on current filing trends.

Core functions 

With the introduction of CPC, the ministry stated that the jurisdictional Registrar of Companies (RoC) will be able to focus more on their core functions of inquiries, inspection, and investigation to ensure robust corporate governance.

Additionally, the ministry has already operationalized the Central Registration Centre (CRC) and Centralised Processing for Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) to expedite the processing of applications and forms filed for incorporation, closure, and regulatory compliance.

The ministry reported a significant increase in the incorporation of companies and LLPs, from 1,02,063 in FY 2013–14 to 1,95,586 in FY 2022–23, with the current financial year showing the highest incorporation numbers so far.

Under C-PACE, applications for voluntary closure of companies are processed in non-STP (straight through processing) within an average time of less than 4 months (about 100 days), significantly reducing processing times compared to the previous average of more than 18 months.

(with PTI inputs)