Apply online to your state's labour department within 30 days of opening, because the Shops and Establishments Act is state law and each state runs its own portal, form and fee scale. The steps are the same everywhere: register on the state portal (Maharashtra's Labour Management System, Karnataka's Seva Sindhu), enter the establishment's name, address, owner, PAN, employee count, working hours and weekly holiday, upload address proof and ID, pay the fee and download the certificate. Headcount decides what you file: in Maharashtra an establishment with fewer than 10 workers files a simple intimation, one with 10 or more must register, and not complying can cost up to Rs 1,00,000. A company incorporated in Delhi gets its Shops and Establishment number through SPICe+ at incorporation. Fees, validity and renewal differ by state, so read your state portal's own schedule before paying an agent.
An HR platform's guide to Maharashtra's 2017 Act: registration is mandatory at 10 or more employees, a simple intimation below that, and penalties up to Rs 1,00,000 for not complying.
A state-by-state overview of the shop and establishment licence: it is needed within 30 days of starting business, goes by different names (Gumasta in Maharashtra, e-Karmika in Karnataka, Shopex in Delhi), and follows the same online steps everywhere.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs' own FAQ on SPICe+, the single web form that incorporates a company. It lists the 11 services the form bundles and states the fees: zero filing fee for authorised capital up to Rs 15 lakh, Rs 1,000 for a separate name reservation, and state stamp duty.
Companies with authorised capital up to Rs 15 lakh pay zero filing fee and only state stamp duty.
One SPICe+ filing allots DIN, PAN, TAN, EPFO and ESIC numbers and opens the bank account; Professional Tax too in Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal.
Upload the DSC-signed PDFs within 15 days of the SRN and pay within 7 days, or the SRN is cancelled.
This is the government's own checklist, so it settles the entity question straight: Pvt Ltd if you plan to raise (investors cannot hold shares in an LLP), LLP or OPC if you are bootstrapping services. It walks the same first-weeks moves the answer names (MCA incorporation, DPIIT recognition to unlock tax and IP benefits, GST once you cross the threshold, sector licenses) from the source that defines them, not a reseller's blog.
Maharashtra's official portal for registering a shop or establishment (Form A), renewing it and filing changes, with the document list and service timelines.
