- Section 7(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 requires the Registrar to allot a corporate identity number on incorporation.
- A CIN has 21 characters in six segments: 1 + 5 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 6.
- Section 12(3)(c) requires the CIN on business letters, billheads, letter papers and official notices.
- The CIN is printed on the Certificate of Incorporation, alongside the company’s PAN and TAN.
On this page
How do you read a CIN, segment by segment?
Left to right, it runs from listing status to registration number. Let’s take an invented CIN for a Pune subsidiary of a foreign parent: U72900MH2026FTC123456. It’s illustrative only, so don’t search for it.
| Segment | Example | Length | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing status | U | 1 | U for unlisted, L for listed on a stock exchange |
| Industry code | 72900 | 5 | Main economic activity, from the national industry classification |
| State code | MH | 2 | State of the registered office (MH is Maharashtra) |
| Year | 2026 | 4 | Year of incorporation |
| Company type | FTC | 3 | FTC is a private company that is a subsidiary of a foreign company. PTC is a private company, PLC a public one |
| Registration number | 123456 | 6 | The ROC’s running registration number |
So this one reads: an unlisted, foreign-owned private company, registered in Maharashtra in 2026.
Simple. And useful when you’re checking a vendor or a client. Six segments, one glance.
Where does a CIN come from, and when do you need it?
It’s allotted once, at incorporation. Then it follows the company everywhere.
Your company gets it when the ROC approves the SPICe+ form. It is printed on the Certificate of Incorporation, and the company’s PAN and TAN are affixed to the same certificate, as MCA’s ease of doing business page confirms.
You quote the CIN on every MCA21 filing, on bank account opening forms and on your letterhead. Leave it off an invoice and the invoice breaks section 12(3)(c).
Need to check a counterparty? You can look up a company’s master data, CIN included, on the MCA portal.
Do you need your own CIN to hire in India?
No, not if you hire through an employer of record. The EOR’s CIN sits on your team’s appointment letters and payslips, because the EOR is the legal employer.
Your own CIN only arrives when you incorporate. That route is right once you sell to Indian customers or plan a long-term captive team. Our walkthrough of setting up a subsidiary in India shows the steps up to the CIN.
Whose CIN appears when Remunance employs your team?
Ours. Your employees’ contracts carry the CIN of Remunance Services Pvt Ltd, our Indian entity in Kothrud, Pune, and we run their TDS, EPF and ESIC filings under it. Onboarding can take as little as 2 working days from a signed contract. To start hiring before you hold a CIN of your own, talk to our India hiring team.
What else do people ask about the CIN meaning?
How many digits are in a CIN?
A CIN has 21 characters, not all digits. Fifteen are digits (industry, year and registration number) and six are letters for listing status, state and company type.
Is the CIN the same as the company registration number?
No. The registration number is only the last six digits. The full 21-character CIN wraps it with listing status, industry, state, year and company type.
Where can I find a company’s CIN?
Start with its letterhead or invoices, since the law requires the CIN there. The Certificate of Incorporation and the company’s master data on the MCA portal also show it.
Planning a hire in India?
Our founding team has run payroll and hiring in India for 22+ years, first as Remunance Systems, which was later acquired by ADP.