CIN Number Decoder

1. Choose Company CIN for a company or LLP LLPIN for a limited liability partnership.
2. Type or paste the number. Spaces, hyphens and lower-case letters are fine. Use Try an example to see a sample CIN decoded.
3. Read the result: whether the format is valid, a one-line summary (listed or unlisted, company type, state, year), and a table explaining each part. A valid number can be copied without spaces, and a number typed in the wrong tab gets a button to check it in the right one.
4. For the industry code, read both NIC readings in the note under the table, and the reference tables further down the page.
5. To see the company's name, status and directors, open View Company or LLP Master Data on the MCA portal. This tool only decodes the number.

What a CIN tells you

A Corporate Identification Number (CIN) is the 21-character number the Registrar of Companies (ROC), under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), gives a company when it is incorporated. Section 12 of the Companies Act, 2013 requires a company to print it on its letterheads, invoices and other business papers, so you'll find it at the bottom of most bills and on company websites. Unlike a PAN, a CIN isn't random: it packs in whether the company is listed, its industry, its state, the year it was formed and what kind of company it is. This CIN decoder splits the number and explains each part. A second tab checks the format of an LLPIN, the number given to limited liability partnerships.

The six parts of a CIN

Worked example: U72200KA2010PTC012345 reads as an unlisted private limited company, registered in Karnataka in 2010, whose declared activity is NIC-2004 code 72200, software consultancy and supply.

Company type codes

You will also see GAP and GAT, usually explained as guarantee and association companies (public and private), and FLC, usually explained as a public company that is a subsidiary of a foreign company. Those three come from company records rather than an MCA document, so read them as the commonly given meanings.

Reading the industry code

The five digits after the first letter are an NIC code for the main activity the company declared at registration. Older CINs use NIC-2004, while many newer ones use NIC-2008 codes such as 62099 (other IT and computer service activities). The two versions number their divisions differently: division 72 is computer and software work in NIC-2004 but scientific research in NIC-2008. That's why the tool shows both readings and labels its list of common codes as approximate. The code also doesn't change when a company moves into a new business, so treat it as a hint, not a description of what the company does today.

When a CIN changes

Because the CIN encodes the company's status, it can change during the company's life: U becomes L when the company lists its shares, PTC becomes PLC when a private company converts to public, and the state code changes if the registered office moves to another state. If two documents show slightly different CINs for the same company, one of these events is the usual reason.

LLPIN

An LLP gets an LLPIN instead of a CIN: three letters and four digits, written like AAB-1234. It's a serial number and doesn't encode the state, year or business. The tool checks the shape and writes it in the usual hyphenated form.

Check the company itself

A valid-looking CIN can still be made up. Before paying a new supplier or signing a contract, look the company up on the MCA portal (MCA Services, then View Company or LLP Master Data). It's free and shows the registered name, status (active, struck off, under liquidation), registered address and directors. Make sure the name matches the invoice.