
Registered Office vs Principal Place of Business: Key Legal Differences
Business addresses often seem straightforward until formal documentation begins.
5 min read
Every official communication to a company goes to its registered office, and the address is on its MCA master data. It has to be updated even when you have only moved within the same city.
A few details, then secure checkout. Your expert takes it from there.
Starting at₹4,299+ Govt. Fees
Prefer to talk to someone first?
What the registered office is for, how far you are moving and why that changes the process, and why companies choose LegalWiz.in.
The registered office is the official address at which a company is incorporated or registered. Every official communication made to the company is addressed there, and the address is displayed on the company’s master data.
Any change of address has to be updated with the MCA, even where the office has moved within the same city. The Companies Act prescribes a specified process, and which process applies depends on where the office has moved to: within the city, within the jurisdiction of the same Registrar, or to another state.
In every case the consent of the shareholders and the approval of the Registrar concerned are compulsory. The Registrar has to be notified within 30 days of the change of premises, and where the office is moving out of the state, the prior approval of the Registrar and the Regional Director must be obtained first.
Your relationship manager and the drafting team handle everything below. You supply the documents once and approve the drafts.
Government fees are charged at actuals. The Registrar has to be notified within 30 days of the change of premises, and a move out of the state needs the prior approval of the Registrar and the Regional Director before the filing.
There is no requirement for a registered office to be commercial property. A residential or a commercial address will do.
A registered office cannot be situated outside India.
A no objection certificate from the owner of the premises, along with the rent agreement or the conveyance deed.
All books of account are kept at the registered office. Where the board decides to keep them elsewhere in India, written notice of that address has to be sent to the Registrar.
The Companies Act prescribes three different procedures. Which one applies to you is the first thing your relationship manager will establish.
The shortest route, and it still has to be done: the address must be updated with the MCA even where the office has only moved within the same city. The Memorandum is unaffected.
Where the office moves beyond the city but stays within the jurisdiction of the same Registrar, the consent of the shareholders and the approval of that Registrar are what the change turns on. The situation clause of the MoA is still unaffected.
The longest route. The situation clause of the MoA refers to the state, so it has to be altered, and prior approval must be obtained from the Registrar and from the Regional Director before the change can be made.
A short checklist. Everything else is drafted for you.
The DSC of one of the authorised directors of the company.
The electricity bill, telephone bill or gas bill for the new address.
A no objection certificate from the owner of the new registered office premises.
The rent agreement, or the conveyance deed, for the new registered office.
Step 01
Step 02
Step 03
Subject to government processing time.
Seven working days end to end. This is the schedule for a move that stays within the state; a move across a state line adds the Regional Director’s approval.
1 of 7 working days
2 of 7 working days
2 of 7 working days
2 of 7 working days
Subject to government processing time. A move outside the state requires the prior approval of the Registrar and the Regional Director, which adds to this schedule.
Leverage best deals offered by the industry leaders and experience mutual growth.












Still have a question? Our team is happy to help, at no charge and with no obligation to buy anything.
Yes. There is no compulsion for a registered office to be commercial property: a residential or a commercial address can be provided.
Not as long as the proposed registered office is situated within the same state.
Where the office is shifted to another state, the situation clause, which refers to the state, has to be altered.
The Registrar must be notified of the change of registered office by filing the appropriate documents within 30 days of the change of premises.
Where the office is being shifted outside the state, the prior approval of the Registrar and of the Regional Director has to be obtained first.
No. A registered office cannot be situated outside India.
All the books of account of the company.
Where they are kept at another place in India as decided by the board of directors, the company has to send written notice to the Registrar giving the full address of the place where they are kept.
Update the address the MCA writes to, inside 30 days of the move.
Get started