More than 900 one-person companies come up in seven months

NEW DELHI: India has seen setting up of over 900 one-person companies, with more than half in the business services segment, in the seven months since April 1 when norms for establishing such entities came into force.

One Person Company (OPC), which as the name suggests can have only a single member, is a first of its kind concept introduced in the Companies Act. Provisions pertaining to this particular class of entities came into effect from April 1.

"Up to October 31, 2014, a total number of 911 One Person Companies (OPC) were registered with collective authorised capital of Rs 19.86 crore," as per latest data compiled by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, which is implementing the Companies Act.

During the April-October period, a maximum number of 526 OPCs have been set up in business services, followed by 106 entities in community, personal and social services, 74 firms in trading and another 73 in manufacturing segment.

In October alone, 165 such entities were established and together their authorised capital stood at Rs 3.76 crore.

OPCs are expected to facilitate easier access to funding sources for entrepreneurs.

Many nations, including the United States, China and Singapore allow business to be structured as OPCs.

The total number of active companies was more than 9.97 lakh at the end of October whereas the overall count of registered firms stood at more than 14.27 lakh.

According to the Ministry, over 2.61 lakh companies shut down while 1.41 lakh entities did not file statutory annual filings for three years consecutively till October end.