A public Limited company is the largest form of business available in India. Public limited company is a large company and is formed in order to raise funding from public through IPO etc.Public Limited Companies are those types of companies where minimum number of members is seven and there is no cap on the maximum number of members however, after 500 members, SEBI approval is needed.
A limited company grants limited liability to its owners and management. Being a public company allows a firm to sell shares to investors this is beneficial in raising capital. A minimum of three Directors are required for establishing a Public Limited Company and it has more stringent regulatory requirements compared to a Private Limited Company.
A public limited company has most of the characteristics of a private limited company. A public limited company has all the advantages of private limited company and the ability to have any number of members, ease in transfer of shareholding and more transparency. Identifying marks of a public limited company are name, number of members, shares, formation, management, directors and meetings, etc.,
A company is a legal entity and a juristic person established under the Act. Therefore a company form of organization has wide legal capacity and can own property and also incur debts. The members (Shareholders/Directors) of a company have no liability to the creditors of a company for such debts.
Shares of a company limited by shares are transferable by a shareholder to any other person. Filing and signing a share transfer form and handing over the buyer of the shares along with share certificate can easily transfer shares.
A company has 'perpetual succession', that is continued or uninterrupted existence until it is legally dissolved. A company, being a separate legal person, is unaffected by the death or other departure of any member but continues to be in existence irrespective of the changes in membership.
A company being a juristic person, can acquire, own, enjoy and alienate property in its own name. No shareholder can make any claim upon the property of the company so long as the company is a going concern.
A company enjoys better avenues for borrowing of funds. It can issue debentures, secured as well as unsecured and can also accept deposits from the public, etc. Even banking and financial institutions prefer to render large financial assistance to a company rather than partnership firms or proprietary concerns.
Identity and address proof will be required for all directors and shareholders of the company to be incorporated. In case of Indian nationals, PAN is mandatory. For foreign nationals, notarized copy of passport must be submitted mandatorily. All documents submitted must be valid. Residence proof documents like bank statement or electricity bill must be less than 2 months old.
All companies must have a registered office in India. To prove access to the registered office, a recent copy of the electricity bill or property tax receipt or water bill must be submitted. Along with the utility bill, rental agreement or sale deed and a letter from the landlord with his/her consent to use the office as a registered office of a company must be submitted.