All you need To Know about the New MCA V3 Portal – Introduction, Login & Registration, Types, Changes, Differences

1. Overview

In recent years, the Ease of Doing Business has gained special importance for businesses among the most developed economies of the world. Similarly, the position of India in terms of Ease of Doing business has changed drastically in past few years.

According to a study made by the World Bank, which studied countries based on Ease of doing business rankings, and gave weights based on certain parameters which are used to build EoDB ranking. Here a high EoDB signifies a more conducive environment for starting & running a business in any particular country. Among the 190 countries that were subject to the study made, India ranked 63rd position and is still improving. For the last three years in a row, India has maintained its position as top three among the top 10 improvers, with an improvement of 67 ranks.

In all these years, the Government has made innumerable efforts to improve business by launching various programs & incentives to encourage businesses to grow. In the year 2014, the Government of India launched its ambitious program of regulatory reforms intending to ease the process of doing business in India and create a more business-friendly environment. For instance, since the launch of the ‘Ease of Doing business ‘scheme the government has reduced as much as 25,000 compliances, which have been especially helpful for small-scale industries & start-ups. Accordingly, India came out to become one of the most attractive destinations not only for investments but also for doing business jumping from 142^nd position in 2014 to 63rd (2019) in ‘The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking in 2020.

Taking a further leap in its efforts, the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the Government of India announced the upgradation of the MCA 21 V2 Portal to the MCA V3 portal on 26^th June 2022, for LLP fillings, which will be rolled out with additional features from 31^st August 2022, as part of its efforts to help businesses to manage their compliances better, and thus form a better system for corporate governance.

2. Introduction of the MCA V3 portal

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs announced the latest portal MCA V3 on 26.04.2022 which was primarily focused on offering LLP-related services in the beginning and to be later shifted for Company related services when notified. As per the latest notifications on the MCA portal, the MCA V3 portal will be released on 31st Aug 2022 from 12:00 AM onwards.

3. Login & Registration

It is to be noted that the users who are pre-registered in the MCA21 V2 shall not be required to re-register themselves or any business organization. In case, the user tries to re-register despite registration on the MCA V2 portal, the system will auto-detect the email id given as a duplicate id.

However, where the user creates a user id with a new email id that was not in the MCA21 V2 portal, he will be able to create a new user id.

Login as a New User on the MCA V3 portal – New User refers to a person who does not possess an existing user account in the pre-existing MCA 21 V2 portal. Thus, a ‘New User’will be undertaking registration afresh on the MCA portal. If the user is new to the MCA 21 system, he could register himself as either a ‘Registered User’ or ‘Business user’.

Steps of Registration

1. Firstly go to the MCA portal by logging in (mca.gov.in) and click ‘Sign Up’ and further ‘Register’.
2. After Clicking on the Register button will take you to the Registration page.
3. Choose the preferred User category & user role as required.
4. Fill in the prescribed details such as Name, Address, details of Communication, etc.
5. Create a user id and a strong password with a hint question & answer for password recovery and click ‘Create my profile.
6. Now you can log in using your credentials after you receive confirmation through an e-mail / SMS on successful registration

Professional User Login

i. Please select ‘Business User’ under User Category and select ‘Professional’ as User Role. PAN is mandatory for Professional Users.

ii. Provide First Name, Middle Name & Last Name as in PAN database Date of Birth should match with PAN database.

iii. Fill in details related to address along with pin code and details of communication.

iv. Now, create a strong password for login purposes along with a hint question & answer for remembering the password.

v. Lastly, you will be required to select whether, you wish to avail of SMS alert services for new updates on form filling, accounts details related updates, MCA updates, etc.

vi. Finally, click, create my account.

Director/Designated Partner User Registration

i. For the purposes of registration of Director or Designated Partner on the MCA V3 portal, it is not necessary to submit PAN details, instead, DIN/DPIN must be mentioned compulsorily.

Click Director/Designated Partner under User type on the registration page.

ii. Fill in details such as First Name, Middle Name & Last Name in the CAPITAL LETTERS of the applicant director, which should match with the name registered in the MCA database.

iii. Details of communication such as the mobile number and email address of the applicant director will be the pre-filled (non-editable) basis from the MCA database for Directors/DP.

iv. Please provide a Password and Hint Question and Answer. Hint Question will be helpful when the User forgets the Password and applies for Password recovery.

v. Finally, click ‘Create My Account to complete the process.

4. Information to be provided for the purposes of Registration

Under MCA 21 V3 portal the user will be required to hold the following information/documents which will vary slightly depending on the type of the user. While some information is generic and needed to be fulfilled by every type of user, there are certain requirements for certain users, a few of which have been provided below-

• Details of Communication i.e. Email Address/Contact Number/Registered business address in case of Business users.
• While PAN is non-mandatory for registered users but compulsory for business users.
• It shall be compulsory for the users to provide CIN /LLPIN /FLLPIN / FCRN details by Company/LLP User.
• Director/Designated Partner must submit their DIN / DPIN
• Only general information is required from the Manager/Secretary/Authorized Representative of a business organization.
• Only general information is required from Officer in Default.
• Every professional user must submit his/her Professional Membership Number with Professional Institute respectively.

5. Types of Users under the MCA V3 Portal

Registered Users- Registered users comprise any individuals. Registered users comprise individuals with access to the basic services of the MCA portal such as e-books, e-consultation, Master Data Services, View Public Document services, and filing of complaints.

Business Users-A business user can be any of the following and they can access and file all the forms. Though there are no changes in the naming of the Business users between MCA 21V2 and MCA V3, the name of ‘Practicing Professional’ in the MCA V2 portal has been changed to “Professional User” in V3. Following are the sub-types of business users-

i. Master Role for any company/LLP. This user account will have access to all MCA FO services concerning the respective Company/LLP. This user can also authorize the Manager/Secretary/officer in default/ Authorised Representative to act on its behalf. Additionally, all the primary services available to the registered user will be available to such users.

ii. Director/Designated Partner– Any individual who is appointed as a Director in a company or a designated partner in an LLP. These users would be allowed for the following functionalities-

• Access to all primary services as are available to a registered user.
• Access to all MCA FO services (including e-filing services and e-adjudication services) in relation to the company/LLP where they are currently appointed
• Right to authorize Manager/Secretary/officer in default/Authorised Representative to access MCA FO services (e-filing and e-adjudication services) on behalf of the company/LLP

iii. Professional Users-This category comprises professionals which are Company Secretary, Chartered Accountants, or Cost Accountants. They will be able to access all MCA FO services for any company/LLP. Professional users will not be required to obtain any authorization from the company/LLP. Similar to other business users, professional users shall also be allowed access to basic services as any registered user.

iv. Manager/Secretary/Authorized representative-These users will have access to all MCA FO services (including e-filing services and e-consultation services), in relation to the company/LLP wherein they have been authorized to perform such services. Additionally, all the primary services available to the registered user will be available to such users.

v. Officer-in-default-Section 2(60) of the Companies Act, 2013 defines officer in default. The officer-in-default will have rights similar to a Manager/Secretary/Authorized representative once authorized in this regard. In addition, they would also be able to view/reply to notices linked with their PAN (under the e-adjudication module) irrespective of their association with the company/LLP.

vi. Nodal Officer-IEPF-These include the Director or Chief Financial Officer or Company Secretary of the company, who are appointed for the purposes of verification of claims and coordination with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority. Additionally, all the primary services available to the registered user will be available to such users.

vii. Deputy Nodal Officer-IEPF- A company may appoint one or more Officers as Deputy Nodal Officers to assist the Nodal Officer for the purposes of verification of claim and coordination with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority. Additionally, all the primary services available to the registered user will be available to such users.

viii. Professional Staff Member-Professional Staff Member refers to any person who is with or on behalf of a Professional of ICSI/ICAI/ICWAI as a staff. Such members will also include-

• Trainees Of The Professional Firms
• Non-Professional Members of Professional Firms etc.

6. Changes in the Company Forms

In our continuous endeavor to serve better, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is launching the first set of Company Forms on the MCA21 V3 portal. From 31^st August 2022 onwards, the list of nine company forms mentioned below will be rolled out under the MCA V3 portal with proposed enhancements. The list includes-

7. Associate DSC

Associating the DSC is a process by which a DSC (or a unique signature) is mapped to a user id. It is required to fill out forms & submitted them online rather than submitting them in physical mode.

Pre-Requisites for Associate DSC

• You can associate your DSC only as a Business user in MCA V3.
• Download and run emsigner
• Download and run embridge
• Change PIN of the DSC (for first time association under this service)
• The latest version of emBridge should be installed in the user’s system for DSC to work and embridge Client should be running in the background.
• The DSC user must be either of Class 2 or higher Class for Associate DSC Service

The process to Associate DSC

• Log on to the MCA21 portal and login through credentials
• Click MCA services, go to FO LLP/COMPANY services and then select Associate DSC. Following this, a pop-up screen will appear.
• The first dropdown will contain the DSC token options, while the second dropdown will auto-populate the name of the DSC holder.

• In the third field, the user will be required to feed the latest PIN/ Password of the DSC.
• Please select the Proxy key token appearing as the first option in the dropdown. In case there is more than one token key inserted at one time, please select the required token.

• The name of the person will appear in the second dropdown to see if the correct token is selected or not.
• Verify the same and a message will appear on the screen which will confirm the association of DSC with PAN & DIN.

8. Difference between MCA V2 vs MCAV3

• In the MCA21 V2, forms are required to be filled and uploaded in the portal while in V3 the forms are to be filled & submitted online. It affords the user convenience to save a partially filled form & file it later as per user choice.
• Under MCA V2, there was only a My Workspace that contained a list of MCA notices & circulars issued by them. On the other hand, the latest V3 version contains a personalized “My Application” feature that allows the user to view all the forms filled, their status & reports to the date along with any form pending for DSC upload, under processing, pay fees, etc.
• Under the V2 portal, the login happens through the user id, whereas under the V3 portal the login is through the email id.
• When a business user logs in to the MCA system, an OTP will be sent to your mobile and email address to ensure the authenticity of the user.

9. Who can upgrade to Business User?

Any Registered User on the MCA V3 portal could upgrade himself to a Business User. For which he will have to choose any of the suitable categories during the process of registering/upgrading-

• Company/LLP
• Director/Designated Partner
• Manager/Secretary/Authorized Representative
• Officer in Default
• Professional

Once the user does log in using his credentials, he could update his profile under the Profile Update section which can be accessed through the selection of the ‘Profile Update’ option.

10. Things to be kept in Mind

i. It is to be noted by the users during registration-

• First Name, Middle Name, and Last name should be matched with the PAN records.
• In the case of Directors/ Designated Partners registration, it is mandatory to mention the DIN number while PAN is optional.
• When a registered user upgrades himself as a business user, the system authenticates the username and Date of Birth as per the user’s PAN details as per the PAN database. Thus, the user should ensure the details match with the PAN database.

ii. In the interest of the stakeholders, it is to be noted that the upcoming launch of nine company forms in the MCA V3 portal, and LLPV3 portal will not be available from 27th Aug (midnight) to 28th Aug (11:59 PM), while MCAV2 Portal for company filing will remain available.

iii. The stakeholders shall also be required to log in to the new MCA V3 portal with their existing MCA V2 user ID and password and then upgrade themselves as Business user. On upgradation, the email id of the pre-existing MCA V2 account will automatically become the login ID for V3 and the password will stay the same but could be changed if required.

To ensure better implementation of the new company forms on the MCA 21V3 portal, it is to be noted that-

• For the abovementioned nine company forms, the e-filling has been disabled from 15th Aug 2022 onwards.
• Stakeholders have been advised to ensure that there are no service request numbers in Pending payment and Resubmission status on V2 Portal.
• Offline payments for the above-mentioned nine forms through the Pay later option in the V2 portal have been disabled from  07th Aug 2022. However, payments could be made online mode (Credit/Debit Card and Net Banking).

Conclusion

Therefore, the MCA V3 portal is a commendable effort on the part of the Government that will help businesses to manage their business compliances, view the status of their fillings & adequately track their records. Professionals who already have a long list of compliances to manage & track will be able to save their time & energy with the help of the new MCAV3 portal. This step will definitely take India a notch higher in the Ease of Doing Business world ranking and serve as a huge motivation for entrepreneurs in the country.