Company letterhead - Content is as Important as Design
We spend so much time designing our Company’s letterhead: the logo, the colors, the elements, design, paper quality, so on so forth. that, we often forget the ‘content’ that should be in the letterhead. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, through the Companies Act 2013, has prescribed certain mandatory information to be printed on every Company’s letterhead and they are as follows:
1. Name of the Company
This is very obvious and needs no explanation. But actually, it does. Where a Company has changed its name or names during the last two years, it shall mention the same along with its current name. Ex.: ABC Informatics Private Limited (Formerly ABC Analytics Private Limited).
The words ‘One Person Company’ should be mentioned below the name of a One Person Company.
2. Address of Registered Office,
Address of the registered office is mandatory. It is a good practice to mention the address of other offices too, like – Corporate Office, Branch Office, Factory sites etc. But registered office is always mandatory.
3. CIN Number
CIN is a 21-digit alpha-numeric Unique number, this number needs to be quoted on letterhead of the company compulsorily.
4. Telephone Number
It is nowhere mentioned, that it has to be telephone number of the registered office. Any Number, even if it’s a Mobile Number can be mentioned.
5. Fax Number (if any)
Fax number, if available can be mentioned. In today’s world, with the advent of emails, Fax has lost its relevance – and hence mention this, only if you have it.
6. E-mail Id
Again, the Ministry has not mentioned any format for this, this can be an email specific to your Company’s domain, or it could be a free email like Gmail or Yahoo. Make it a habit within the Company, to check this email id on a regular basis.
7. Website address (if any)
Mention this if it exists. But if the Company has never built its website, then you could skip this.
The Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), has not specified where and how each of the information needs to be mentioned. This designing of the letterhead is left to the discretion of the Company.
