Context

• As part of the Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has notified a new web form christenedSimplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus (SPICe+) replacing the existing SPICe form.
• SPICe+ will offer 10 services by 3 Central Govt Ministries & Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour, and Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance) and one State Government (Maharashtra).
• Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated through SPICe+ and no EPFO & ESIC registration nos. shall be separately issued by the respective agencies.
• Registration for Profession Tax shall also be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated in the State of Maharashtra through SPICe+.
• This will save procedure, time, and cost for starting a business in India and will be applicable for all new company incorporations.
• India had improved its ranking to the 63^rd spot on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business(EODB) survey, out of 190 countries.
• The reserve unique name (RUN) web service will now only be applicable for a change of name with SPICe+ coming in.
• In the 2019 EODB rankings, the World Bank had placed India at the 136^th spot for ease of starting business. The country was ranked 154^th and 115^th for paying taxes and enforcing contracts in the survey.