Software does not allow someone with a single name to register a company - why?

It is opportune that one Nishant has taken the matter of mononyms — his, obviously — right up to the Supreme Court for adjudication. It is unfair for the Union ministry of corporate affairs to insist that all those who want to start businesses must mention surnames in their application forms. Unless the computer software that the relevant government department uses has been programmed to only process polynyms, there is really no reason for anyone, including incipient businessmen, to be burdened with an extra cognomen. More so as, in many cases, choosing to have mononyms are linked to India’s self-respect movement, because surnames often denote caste and dropping them is seen as a badge of liberation. That three major US presidential contenders with prominent surnames have chosen to go mononymous on their election posters for the 2016 nomination — Jeb (Bush), Hillary (Clinton) and Rand (Paul) — also points to the rising popularity of the custom even in the west.

Famous people, in particular, do have a penchant for one name or at least are known only by their mononyms, from Cicero to Stalin, Michelangelo to Mayawati, Sukarno to Madonna, Twiggy to Rajinikanth. It does seem unfair, therefore, to deny that singular privilege to those with more modest achievements or aspirations, such as registering a business.