Section 12 — Registered office of company

(1) A company shall, 3[within thirty days of its incorporation] and
at all times thereafter, have a registered office capable of receiving and acknowledging all communications
and notices as may be addressed to it.
(2) The company shall furnish to the Registrar verification of its registered office within a period of
thirty days of its incorporation in such manner as may be prescribed.
(3) Every company shall—
(a) paint or affix its name, and the address of its registered office, and keep the same painted or
affixed, on the outside of every office or place in which its business is carried on, in a conspicuous
position, in legible letters, and if the characters employed therefor are not those of the language or of
one of the languages in general use in that locality, also in the characters of that language or of one of
those languages;
4[(b) have its name engraved in legible characters on its seal, if any;]
(c) get its name, address of its registered office and the Corporate Identity Number along with
telephone number, fax number, if any, e-mail and website addresses, if any, printed in all its business
letters, billheads, letter papers and in all its notices and other official publications; and

1. The words “and a common seal” omitted by Act 21 of 2015, s. 3 (w.e.f. 29-5-2015).
2. Ins. by Act 22 of 2019, s. 3 (w.e.f. 2-11-2018).
3. Subs. by Act 1 of 2018, s. 6, for “on and from the fifteenth day of its incorporation”(w.e.f. 27-7-2018).
4. Subs. by Act 21 of 2015, s. 5, for clause (b) (w.e.f. 29-5-2015).

(d) have its name printed on hundies, promissory notes, bills of exchange and such other documents
as may be prescribed:
Provided that where a company has changed its name or names during the last two years, it shall paint
or affix or print, as the case may be, along with its name, the former name or names so changed during the
last two years as required under clauses (a) and (c):
Provided further that the words “One Person Company” shall be mentioned in brackets below the name
of such company, wherever its name is printed, affixed or engraved.
(4) Notice of every change of the situation of the registered office, verified in the manner prescribed,
after the date of incorporation of the company, shall be given to the Registrar 1[within thirty days] of the
change, who shall record the same.
(5) Except on the authority of a special resolution passed by a company, the registered office of the
company shall not be changed,—
(a) in the case of an existing company, outside the local limits of any city, town or village where
such office is situated at the commencement of this Act or where it may be situated later by virtue of a
special resolution passed by the company; and
(b) in the case of any other company, outside the local limits of any city, town or village where
such office is first situated or where it may be situated later by virtue of a special resolution passed by
the company:
Provided that no company shall change the place of its registered office from the jurisdiction of one
Registrar to the jurisdiction of another Registrar within the same State unless such change is confirmed by
the Regional Director on an application made in this behalf by the company in the prescribed manner.
(6) The confirmation referred to in sub-section (5) shall be communicated within a period of thirty days
from the date of receipt of application by the Regional Director to the company and the company shall file
the confirmation with the Registrar within a period of sixty days of the date of confirmation who shall
register the same and certify the registration within a period of thirty days from the dat e of filing of such
confirmation.
(7) The certificate referred to in sub-section (6) shall be conclusive evidence that all the requirements
of this Act with respect to change of registered office in pursuance of sub -section (5) have been complied
with and the change shall take effect from the date of the certificate.
(8) If any default is made in complying with the requirements of this section, the company and every
officer who is in default shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand rupees for every day during which the
default continues but not exceeding one lakh rupees.