REGISTRATIONS

• Digital Signature

• Udyog Aadhaar

• Import Export Code

• FSSAI Registration

• Trade License

• Professional Tax

 

 

Digital Signature

A Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) establishes the identity of the sender while filing or sending documents electronically through the internet. Similar to how a handwritten signature establishes the identity and/or consent of the signee in a paper document, a digital signature certificate establishes the identity and/or of the signee in electronic documents. In India, all Government Departments accept digitally signed documents from CCA like eMudhra, Sify, N-Code, etc.

 

Document Required for Digital Signature (DSC)

The documents required to apply for digital signature differs based on the applicant type as follows:

 

Documents Required for Indian Nationals

In case the applicant is an Indian National, please submit the following documents for identity and address proof:

 

Identity Proof

• Passport

• PAN Card of the Applicant

• Driving Licence

• Post Office ID Card

• Bank Account Passbook containing the photograph and signed by an individual with attestation by the concerned Bank official

• A photo ID card issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs of Centre/State Governments

• Any Government-issued photo ID card bearing the signatures of the individual

 

Address Proof

• AADHAAR Card

• Voter ID Card

• Driving Licence (DL)/Registration Certificate (RC)

• Water Bill (Not older than 3 months).

• Electricity Bill (Not older than 3 Months)

• Latest Bank Statements signed by the bank (Not older than 3 Months)

• Service Tax/VAT Tax/Sales Tax registration certificate

• Property Tax/ Corporation/ Municipal Corporation Receipt

 

Documents Required for Foreign Nationals

In case the applicant is a Foreign National, please submit the following documents for identity and address proof:

 

Identity Proof

• Attested copy of Applicant Passport

• Attested copy of VISA (If the applicant is out of the native country).

• Attested copy of Resident Permit certificate (If the applicant is in India)

 

Address Proof

• Attested copy of Applicant Passport

• Attested copy of any other Government-issued Address Proof

The identity and address proof of foreign nationals must be attested by the following authorities:

• Embassy of Native Country (If the applicant is out of the native country)

• Apostilized by Native Country, after Public Notary (if the country is in Hague Convention)

• Consularized by Native Country, after Public Notary (if the country is not in Hague Convention)

 

 

Udyog Aadhaar

Udyog Aadhaar or MSME registration is a certificate provided to micro, small, medium-sized businesses in India under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Act, 2006 (MSMED). Udyog Aadhaar used to be referred to as MSME registration earlier. Now, the process for obtaining MSME registration has been merged with Udyog Aadhaar registration and made online by the Government

 

Documents Required for Udyog Aadhaar

The applicants personal Aadhaar is the main requirement for obtaining Udyog Aadhaar in case of a proprietorship. No further documents are required other than an email and a mobile number.

1.  In case of  proprietorship , the applicants Aadhaar must be used.
2.  In case of a partnership, the partners Aadhaar can be used.
3.  In the case of a company, the Directors Aadhaar can be used.
4.  In the case of LLP, the Designated Partners Aadhaar can be used.

If an applicant or authorised signatory of a business does not have Aadhaar, then he/she must first apply for Aadhaar at an Aadhaar enrolment centre. Once, the Aadhaar is obtained, the Udyog Aadhaar process can be started.

 

 

Import Export Code

Import Export (IE) Code is a registration required for persons importing or exporting goods and services from India. IE Code is issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India. IE Code application must be made to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade along with the necessary supporting documents. Once, the application is submitted, DGFT will issue the IE Code for the entity in 15 - 20 working days or less.

 

IE Code Exemption

An Import Export Code is required for import of any type of goods by a business. However, the following category of persons are exempted from obtaining an IE Code:

1.  Importer and export by central Government or agencies or undertakings for defence purpose or other specified lists under Foreign Trade (exemption from the application of   Rules in certain cases) Order, 1993.
2.  Import or Export of Goods for personal use.

 

Applying for IE Code

Para 2.08 of the Handbook of Procedure contains provisions relating to the application for IE Code. Vide public notice no. 27/2015-2020 dated 8th August 2018, the said para under-went an amended and the provisions of the amended para as applicable with regard to the application for IEC is provided hereunder –

1.  Exporters/importers shall file an online application in form ANF 2A.
2.  The applicant is required to submit only two documents; one is the address proof, and the other is the pre-printed cheque or bank certificate.

 

Address Proof

1.  Sale deed, in case the business premises is self-owned; or
2.  Rental/lease agreement in case the premise is rented/leased; or
3.  Latest electricity/landline/ mobile bill in the name of the applicant entity; or
4.  GST registration certificate; or
5.  In case of a proprietorship, the following proof is valid –
   • Aadhar card;
   • Voters ID;
   • Passport.

 

It must be noted that the above documents in support of address proof need to be in the name of the firm, however, in case of a proprietorship, the address proof in favour of an individual (i.e. proprietor) is acceptable (Trade notice No. 39/2018-19 dated 12th December 2018).

 

Documents Required for IE Code Application

The following are the documents required for making an IE Code application in India.

Proprietorship

• Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Proprietor.
• Copy of PAN card of the Proprietor.
• Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card/ Driving License /UID (Aadhar card) (any one of these).
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
• Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/ Cancelled Cheque bearing preprinted name of applicant and A/C No.

 

Partnership firm

• Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Managing Partner
• Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
• Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving License/PAN (any one of these) of the Managing Partner signing the application.
• Copy of Partnership Deed
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill
• Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A (I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing preprinted name of the applicant entity and A/C No.

LLP or Private Limited Company or Section 8 Company

 

• Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Designated Partner/Director of the Company signing the application
• Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
• Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving License/ PAN (any one of these) of the Managing Partner/Director signing the application.
• Certificate of incorporation as issued by the RoC
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity or telephone bill.
• Bank Certificate as per ANF 2 A(I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing preprinted name of the company and A/C No

 

 

Society or Trust

• Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the signatory applicant/Secretary or Chief Executive
• Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
• Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving License/ PAN (any one of these) of the Secretary or Chief Executive/ Managing Trustee signing the application.
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
• Registration Certificate of the Society / Copy of the Trust Deed
• Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing preprinted name of the Registered Society or Trust and A/C No

 

HUF

• Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Karta.
• Copy of PAN card of the Karta.
• Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card/ UID (Aadhar card)/ Driving Licence (any one of these) of the Karta.
• Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased or latest electricity /telephone bill.
• Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/ Cancelled Cheque bearing preprinted name of applicant and A/C No.

 

Bank Proof

It is has been clarified vide Trade Notice No. 39/2018-19 dated 12th December 2018 that a cheque without a pre-printed name of the account holder will not be acceptable. Further, the pre-printed cheque can be of savings account or current account. It is to be noted that the above-referred documents need to be uploaded online in digital format-GIF, JPEG and the document size should not exceed 5MB.

 

 

 

FSSAI Registration

The Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 introduced to improve the hygiene and quality of food has brought about tremendous changes in the food industry. As per the Act, no person shall commence or carry on any food business except under a FSSAI license or FSSAI registration. Therefore, any food manufacturing or processing or packaging or distributing entity is now required to obtain a FSSAI License or Registration.

 

FSSAI Registration

FSSAI registration is required for all petty food business operator. Petty food business operator is any person or entity who:

• Manufacturers or sells any article of food himself or a petty retailer, hawker, itinerant vendor, juice stall, sweets shops or temporary stall holder; or
• Hawker selling packaged or freshly prepared food by travelling on movable cart or foot from one location to other.
• Small scale or cottage or such other industries relating to food business or tiny food businesses with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs 12 lakhs and whose:
  • Production capacity of food (other than milk and milk products and meat and meat products) does not exceed 100 kg/ltr per day or
  • Procurement or handling and collection of milk is up to 500 litres of milk per day or
  • Slaughtering capacity is 2 large animals or 10 small animals or 50 poultry birds per day or less.

Petty food business operators are required to obtain a FSSAI registration by submitting an application for registration in Form A. On submission of a FSSAI registration application, the registration should be provided or application rejected in writing within 7 days of receipt of an application by authority.

 

 

FSSAI License - State

Any person or entity that does not not classify as a petty food business operator is required to obtain a FSSAI license for operating a food business in India. FSSAI license is of two types, State FSSAI License  and Central FSSAI License. Based on the size and nature of the business, the licensing authority would change. Some of the types of entities that require FSSAI state license are:

 

• Hotel providing lodging, meals and other guest services - upto four star rating.
• Restaurants and bars having turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Club/Canteen
• Caterers having turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Food vending agencies having upto 100 vending machines in only 1 state
• Mid day meal caterers having turnover of upto Rs.20 crores
• Mid day meal canteens having turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year
• Food product marketers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Food retailers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Food suppliers with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product distributors with a turnover of upto Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product wholesales with a turnover of upto Rs.30 crores per year
• Food transporters having upto 100 vehicles and a turnover of upto Rs.30 crores per year
• Dairy units processing over 500 liters of milk per day or 2.5 MT of milk solids per year
• Vegetable oil processing units with turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year
• Slaughter house processing more than 50 poultry birds or 11 small animals or 3 large animals
• Meat processing unit with a capacity of more than 500kg of meat per day or 150 MT of meat per year
• All grains, cereals, pulses milling units without any limit on production capacity
• Food manufacturing or processing or packing unit with turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year or production capacity of more than 100kg or 100 liters per day
• Cold storage unit with turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year
• Cold + Atmospheric Controlled Storage with turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year
• Storage unit with turnover of more than Rs.12 lakhs per year

 

FSSAI License - Central

Large food manufacturers / processors / transporters and importers of food products require central FSSAI license. Some of the types of entities that require FSSAI central license are:

• Five star hotels
• Restaurants with a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Caterers with a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food vending agencies with more than 100 vending machines or having machines in two or more states
• Food product importers
• Food product exporters
• Selling food products through e-commerce
• Registered office of food business operators having operations in two or more state
• Food business activity in premises belonging to Central Government Agencies
• Departmental Canteens at the premises belonging to Central Government Institutions
• Food business activity in Airport or Seaport
• Food business activity in Railway Stations
• Food product marketers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product retailers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product suppliers with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product distributors with turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food product wholesalers with turnover of more than Rs.30 crores per year
• Food product transporters with turnover of more than Rs.30 crores per year and having more than 100 vehicles
• Proprietary or novel food manufacturers
• Mid-day meal caterers with a turnover of more than Rs.20 crores per year
• Food manufacturing or processing or packing unit with a production capacity of more than 2MT per day
• Dairy units with capacity to process more than 50,000 liters of milk per day or more than 2500MT of milk solids per year
• Vegetable oil processing units with a processing capacity of more than 2MT per day
• Slaughtering house with a capacity to process over 1000 birds or 150 small animals or 50 large animals per day
• Meat processing units with processing capacity of more than 500kg of meat per day or 150MT of meat per annum
• Cold storage units with a capacity of more than 10,000 MT
• Cold storage that is atmospheric controlled with a capacity of more than 1000 MT
• Food storage with a capacity of more than 50,000 MT

 

Trade License

A place of business within a State, Corporation or Municipality will require a trade license from the concerned State Government or Corporation or Municipality for operating. Rules and regulations pertaining to trade license varies from state to state. Hence, to obtain trade license, the applicant must first understand the jurisdiction under which he/she is operating the business and the applicable Act.

In most states, the application for grant or renewal of license will be made to a Commissioner in the Corporation. The application must be made within 30 days of starting to operate a business. On applying with the required information and documents, the concerned Officer will ensure that the business is suitable for the purpose used, there is no possibility of danger or nuisance for any person around and issue the license. Trade license would normally be issued within a period of 7-15 days on submission of application. IndiaFilings can help you obtain trade license for your business. Get in touch with an IndiaFilings Advisor to know more about the rules and regulations applicable for your business and begin the process of applying for a trade license

Important Aspects Relating to Trade Licens

Application

Trade license application must be made to the concerned State Government or Corporation or Municipality. The jurisdiction and procedure for application would differ based on the State regulations.

Verification

In some State, the trade license would be issued only after in-person verification from the concerned authorities. However, many states have also done away with the requirement.

Processing Time

The normal processing time for trade application is 10 - 15 days subject to Government processing time. The certificate can be downloaded online after approval.

Validity

In most states, trade licenses are issued with a validity of 1 year. Trade license can be renewed at the end of each year by paying the renewal fee.

 

Professional Tax

Professional Tax Registration and Compliance

Professional tax is a tax levied by the State government. Professional tax is levied on income however earned in any trade and is usually remitted by the Employer. The stipulations attached to professional tax, caps the total professional tax payable in respect of any one person to the State or to any local authority in the State by way of taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments to Rs.2500 per year.

Introduction to Professional Tax

Professional tax is just like Income Tax except for the fact that Income Tax is collected by the Central Government and Professional Tax is collected by the State Government. When this tax was first introduced in India, the maximum limit on the tax to be collected was Rs. 250.

Some of the State Governments have represented that the earlier celling of two hundred and fifty rupees which was fixed in 1949, needs to be revised upwards taking into consideration the price rise and other factors. It is also pointed out that the profession tax has, at present, become almost regressive because of the ceiling since even people with high salaries have to pay this tax at only the maximum amount of two hundred and fifty rupees per annum. The upward revision of profession tax to Rs.2500 per year has helped the State Governments in raising additional resources.

Professional Tax Rate

The maximum amount payable per annum towards professional Tax is INR 2,500. The professional tax is usually a slab-amount based on the gross income of the professional. It is deducted from his/her income every month by the employer. The state governments of the following states have levied professional Tax – Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Orissa, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh. In case of salaried and wage-earners, professional tax is liable to be deducted by the Employer from the salary/wages and the Employer is liable to deposit the same with the state government. In case of other class of individuals, the tax is liable to be paid by the person himself.

Employer's Responsibility for Professional Tax

The owner of a business is responsible for deducting professional tax from the salaries of his employees and paying the amount so collected to the appropriate government department. He/she has to furnish a return to the tax department in the prescribed form within the specified time. The return should include proof of tax payment. In case the payment proof is not enclosed, the return would be deemed incomplete and invalid.

    Professional Tax Registration

Professional tax registration application must be submitted to the State’s tax department within 30 days of employing staff in a business. If there is more than one place of work, the application must be made separately to each authority as regards the place of work coming under the jurisdiction of that authority.

Delay in obtaining professional tax registration certificate can lead to a penalty of Rs. 5/- per day. In case of non/late payment of profession tax, the penalty will be 10% of the amount of tax. In case of late filing of returns, a penalty of Rs. 300 per return will be imposed.

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