Name Reservation explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Rule 9 says how a company name is reserved or changed: through the MCA web service, using SPICe+ for reservation at incorporation and RUN (Reserve Unique Name) for a change of name, with the fee and a fifteen-day window to correct defects. Rule 9A lets the Registrar extend a reserved name on payment of the fees printed in the rule.
This article is as amended up to G.S.R. 579(E) dated 26 August 2025 (rule text per the MCA e-book to G.S.R. 411(E) of 16 July 2024; later notifications substitute forms only). Later amendments should be checked. To have a name reserved and checked, see our name reservation service.
Reservation of a name is applied for through the MCA web service by SPICe+ (INC-32); a change of name uses RUN; the fee is as provided in the Registration Offices and Fees Rules. The Registrar, Central Registration Centre, approves or rejects after allowing resubmission within fifteen days. Under rule 9A, a reserved name can be extended upto forty days or sixty days on the fees of one thousand, two thousand or three thousand rupees printed in the rule.
Rule 9: reservation of name or change of name
Rule 9 reads, in substance: an application for reservation of name shall be made through the web service at www.mca.gov.in using the web service SPICe+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus: INC-32), and an application for change of name using the web service RUN (Reserve Unique Name), along with the fee as provided in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014. The application may either be approved or rejected, as the case may be, by the Registrar, Central Registration Centre, after allowing re-submission of the web form within fifteen days for rectification of defects, if any. The rule carries the words "with effect from the 23rd February, 2020".
| Point | What rule 9 says |
|---|---|
| Where | The web service at www.mca.gov.in |
| New company | Through SPICe+ (INC-32) |
| Change of name by an existing company | Through RUN (Reserve Unique Name) |
| Fee | As provided in the Companies (Registration Offices and Fees) Rules, 2014; no amount in this rule |
| Decision | Approved or rejected by the Registrar, Central Registration Centre |
| Correction window | Resubmission of the web form within fifteen days for rectification of defects |
The rule has been substituted several times (2018 and 2020 amendments), and the older versions in the e-book notes had RUN for all reservations. Those older versions are history, not the rule today. The current text is the one substituted with effect from 23 February 2020 (the Amendment Rules of 18 February 2020), which the e-book carries in place.
The Registrar's decision follows the name tests: resemblance in rule 8 and the undesirable-name and approval-word grounds in rule 8A. Read both before you apply, because rejection means resubmission within fifteen days. The e-book's text prints no other time limit on that resubmission.
Rule 9A: extension of reservation
Rule 9A was inserted by the Companies (Incorporation) Third Amendment Rules, 2020. On payment of the fees set out in the rule, through the MCA web service, the Registrar shall extend the period of a name reserved under rule 9, by using SPICe+ (INC-32), as follows:
| Clause | Extended up to | Fee printed | Payment must be made |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) | Forty days from the date of approval under rule 9 | One thousand rupees | Before the expiry of twenty days from the date of approval |
| (b) | Sixty days from the date of approval under rule 9 | Two thousand rupees | Before the expiry of the forty days referred to in clause (a) |
| (c) | Sixty days from the date of approval under rule 9 | Three thousand rupees | Before the expiry of twenty days from the date of approval |
The proviso adds that the Registrar has the power to cancel the reserved name in accordance with sub-section (5) of section 4 of the Act. Our section 4 guide covers the Act's own text on names.
The rule does not print the basic reservation period. Clauses (a) and (c) tie the first payment to "twenty days from the date of approval under rule 9", and the clauses count from the approval date, not from the date of payment. The fees in rule 9A are the figures printed in the rule; fees for the reservation itself are in the Registration Offices and Fees Rules, covered in our article on Rule 12 and the annexure.
Reading the timeline
Using approval as day zero, and counting only from the rule's words:
- Up to day 20: the first extension payment of one thousand rupees (clause (a)) or the single payment of three thousand rupees (clause (c)) is made.
- Day 40: with clause (a), the reservation runs up to forty days from approval; a second payment of two thousand rupees under clause (b), made before the forty days expire, extends it up to sixty days.
- Day 60: the longest period any clause provides.
Clause (c) is a single-step route to sixty days for three thousand rupees paid within the first twenty days. Clauses (a) and (b) together reach the same sixty days for a total of three thousand rupees as printed (one thousand plus two thousand), in two payments. The rule itself does not say the totals match; they are simply the figures printed.
Example: Anita Rao's company name is approved on a date she notes as day zero. She expects the incorporation papers to take longer than twenty days. She pays one thousand rupees before day twenty to extend to forty days. On day thirty-five she finds she still needs more time and pays two thousand rupees before the forty days end, which extends the name up to sixty days from approval.
Who needs to act
- Founders: note the approval date, because every period runs from it.
- Company secretaries: check whether to use clause (c) at the outset if delay is already likely.
- Existing companies changing their name: use RUN under rule 9; the extension in rule 9A is stated for names "reserved under rule 9" by using SPICe+.
See our guide on company name reservation rules for the practical background, how to file SPICe+ for company incorporation, and our article on rules 12 and 38 for the SPICe+ rule.
Need help reserving or extending a name?
Missing a rule 9A window can mean starting the name application again. TaxClue can reserve the name, track the dates and carry the incorporation through; see our name reservation page.
Key takeaways
- Rule 9: reservation through SPICe+ (INC-32), change of name through RUN, with the fee under the Fees Rules.
- The Registrar, Central Registration Centre, approves or rejects, after a fifteen-day resubmission window.
- Rule 9A extends a reserved name up to forty or sixty days from approval.
- Fees printed in rule 9A: one thousand, two thousand and three thousand rupees.
- The Registrar can cancel a reserved name under section 4(5) of the Act.
Read next
- Rule 8: when a name resembles too nearly an existing company
- Rule 8A: undesirable names and words that need approval
- Company name reservation rules
- How to file SPICe+ for company incorporation
Disclaimer: Based on the Companies Act, 2013 rules named above as consolidated in the MCA e-book (consulted on 3 October 2026), with the later notifications the article names. Later amendments, fees, forms and the Companies Act, 2013 provisions referred to should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.