What is a One Person Company?

OPC FORMATION

One Person Company (OPC) is a type of Company under the Companies Act, 2013. OPC is a company that has only one person as to its member and another person as their nominee. It can also be said that an OPC is a blend of Proprietorship concern and a Company. Features of OPC:

(What are key features of an OPC?)

1.   Sole member:      There can be only one member i.e. shareholder in an OPC.
2.   Nominee of the sole member:      It is mandatory to appoint a person as a nominee for the sole member. A minor i.e. a                 person less than 18 years of age cannot be a member or even a nominee in an OPC.
3.   Minimum directors:      An OPC can be set up with just one director, however, there can be a maximum of 15       directors. The sole member can also become a director of the OPC.
4.   No minimum capital requirement:      There is no minimum capital requirement to set up an OPC. Hence, the initial capital       of the OPC can be as per your requirements.
5.   Exemptions under Companies Act:      To ease management and to promote OPC’s, under Companies Act, 2013, there are       various exemptions for an OPC.
6.   Board meetings:      It is mandatory to hold one board meeting in each half of a calendar year. Also, the       gap between two board meetings should not be less than 90 days. This is not       applicable to OPC’s where there is only one director
7.   Separate legal entity:      Even though there is only one member in an OPC, still the OPC has a separate legal       entity just like a private or a public company.
8.   Restrictions on type and business:       An OPC cannot be converted or formed as a Section 8/not-for-profit company.

Also,        an OPC cannot carry out Non-Banking Financial Investment activities.Due to its constitutional structure an OPC enjoys various benefits such as:

1.   Limited liability:      Instead of being a sole proprietorship concern whose liability is unlimited, the single       person can set up an OPC which has limited liability which is to the extent of shares       held by them on the OPC. A proprietor’s personal assets can be attached to their       business for recovery of losses, but as OPC is a separate entity, the shareholders       liability is limited to his/her share value.
2.   Fewer compliances:      As compared to a Private or a Public company, an OPC has to fulfill fewer      compliances.
3.   Cost effective:      Due to few compliances’ costs such as government fees on form filing, stamp duty on       the same, documentation costs are reasonably less as compared to a private or a       public company.
4.   Controlling rights:      As there is only one shareholder or member, the controlling rights are entirely with       the sole shareholder. Also, the sole shareholder can be the sole director of the OPC,       which gives additional controlling rights. For example as there is only one shareholder       he alone can take decision and if he/she is also the director then this will help in       getting dual approval.
5.   Quick decisions:      As there is only one shareholder and if he/she is appointed as director, this will take        care of the compliance of minimum director’s requirement, and will help in taking        quick decisions, ease of management of the business.

List of information required to set up an OPC:

(Which information should be kept ready while setting up an OPC?)

1.   Proposed name of the Company.
2.   Complete postal address of the company.
3.   Initial capital of the company.
4.   List of activities the company will be engaged in.
5.   Name of the sole shareholder.
6.   Complete postal address of the sole shareholder.
7.   Name of the nominee for the sole shareholder.
8.   Complete postal address of the nominee for the sole shareholder.
9.   Name of the director.
10.  Complete postal address of the director.

List of documents required to set up an OPC:

(Which documents should be kept ready while setting up an OPC?)

1.   One passport size photo of the sole shareholder, director(s) and nominee for the sole       shareholder.
2.   PAN card of the sole shareholder, director(s) and nominee for the sole shareholder.
3.   Identity proof of the sole shareholder, director(s) and nominee for the sole shareholder       (Any one of: passport, voter id, driving license, Aadhar card)
4.   Address proof of the sole shareholder, director(s) and nominee for the sole       shareholder (Should be in their name) (Any one of: bank statement, electricity bill,       telephone bill, mobile bill, rent agreement in case of rented premises).
5.   Address proof of the place of business of the OPC (Rent agreement in case of rented       premises, Index II or property tax paid receipt etc. in case of owned premises).

Note: The procedure, information and documents required to set up a Company may vary as per any amendments in the Companies Act, 2013 or the e-form filing procedures and requirements of MCA website.