Registrar of Firms West Bengal: Firm Registration Guide (2026)

The Registrar of Firms in West Bengal is the Registrar of Firms, Societies & Non-Trading Corporations, West Bengal, an office under the Department of Industry, Commerce & Enterprises, sitting at the WBIIDC Building, 2nd Floor, DJ-10, Sector II, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700091. It registers partnership firms for the whole state under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, entirely online, for a government fee of ₹300 and a notified service time of 30 days.

This guide covers what the office does, how West Bengal firm registration works step by step, what the deed needs, what it costs, how long it takes, and how to record changes or a dissolution afterwards. It reflects the position as of October 2026.

Registrar of Firms West Bengal at a glance

What the Registrar of Firms does

The office keeps the Register of Firms for West Bengal. Its published functions are:

• Registration of partnership firms under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932
• Recording changes in a registered firm, including changes in constitution, and dissolution
• Issuing certified copies of register entries
• Registration, alteration and dissolution of societies (for societies, the Salt Lake office covers Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas; Joint Registrars handle other districts)

For firms there is no district-level split. A firm in Siliguri, Durgapur, Asansol or Howrah files with the same office as a firm in Kolkata, and since filing is online, nobody needs to visit Salt Lake.

Firm registration under Sections 58 and 59

Section 58 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 lets a firm apply for registration by sending the Registrar a statement in the prescribed form with the prescribed fee. In West Bengal that statement is Form No. 1. Under Section 59, once the Registrar is satisfied that Section 58 has been complied with, the statement is entered in the Register of Firms and the firm is registered.

The statement must give:

• The firm name
• The principal place of business
• The names of any other places where the firm carries on business
• The date each partner joined the firm
• The full name and permanent address of each partner
• The duration of the firm

Every partner, or an agent specially authorised by a partner, signs and verifies the statement. Section 58(3) bars names such as "Crown", "Emperor", "Empress", "Empire", "Imperial", "King", "Queen", "Royal", or words suggesting government sanction, unless the State Government consents in writing.

Is registration compulsory in West Bengal?

No. West Bengal applies the central text of the Act, under which registration is optional and there is no deadline. But Section 69 means an unregistered firm cannot sue a third party to enforce a contract, and a partner cannot sue the firm or a co-partner on a right arising from the partnership. In practice, any firm that sells on credit, signs contracts or may ever need to recover money should register at formation.

Documents required for firm registration in West Bengal

The Registrar's published checklist asks for colour scans of:

• The partnership deed, either notarised or registered with the District Sub-Registrar, Additional District Sub-Registrar or Registrar of Assurances, with proper stamp value and every page signed by all partners
• The initial and current trade licence of the principal place of business, showing the partners' names, the nature of trade and the address
• The current trade licence of each branch, if any
• The firm's PAN card
• The applicant's Aadhaar card, linked to the mobile number used to log in to the portal
• Passport-size colour photographs and legible specimen signatures of all partners
• A passport-size colour photograph and specimen signature of the witness
• Any affidavit, supplementary deed or special permission the Registrar asks for to cure a deficiency

Two items set the order of work. The Registrar wants the firm's PAN and a trade licence in the firm's name, and both need the signed deed. So the sequence is: deed, stamping and execution, PAN and trade licence, and only then Form No. 1. In Kolkata the trade licence comes from KMC, which we handle through our KMC trade licence service.

How to register a firm online in West Bengal, step by step

• Agree the terms: capital, profit-sharing ratio, salaries and interest to working partners, admission, retirement, death and dissolution. Use our partner remuneration calculator to size partner salaries within the income-tax limit before they go into the deed.
• Draft the partnership deed and pay West Bengal stamp duty on it (stamp paper or e-stamp) before anyone signs.
• Execute the deed: all partners sign every page, with a witness. Have it notarised, or register it with the Sub-Registrar.
• Apply for the firm's PAN on the deed, and take the trade licence in the firm's name from the municipality or panchayat.
• Sign up on registrarfsntc.wb.gov.in to get a user ID and password. The state's Silpasathi single-window portal also lists this service.
• Fill Form No. 1 online with the particulars Section 58 requires, upload the documents and submit.
• If the file is returned with deficiencies, correct every point and resubmit.
• When the Registrar issues the payment order, pay the ₹300 fee online from the dashboard.
• After approval, download the digitally signed registration certificate. You get an email and SMS at each status change.

Government fees and stamp duty on the partnership deed

We have deliberately not printed a single stamp duty figure. The duty depends on the deed and on the West Bengal schedule on the day it is stamped, and quoted figures online are often out of date. We compute it on your draft before execution. What matters more than the amount is the timing: the deed must be stamped before it is signed. An understamped deed is not admissible in evidence until the deficit and penalty are paid, and the Registrar's checklist asks for "proper stamp value".

"Partnership deed registration" and "firm registration" are different things

Many people searching for partnership deed registration in West Bengal actually need firm registration. Registering the deed with the Sub-Registrar is one way of authenticating it; notarisation is the other, and the Registrar of Firms accepts either. Firm registration with the Registrar of Firms is what puts the firm on the Register and removes the Section 69 disability. You need the second whichever route you take for the first.

How long West Bengal firm registration takes

The Registrar publishes its internal timeline for each stage. These are maximums, and a clean file usually moves faster.

Common reasons a file is returned or rejected

• Deed not signed on every page by every partner, or signed before it was stamped
• Deed neither notarised nor registered, or stamped below the proper value
• Trade licence in a partner's personal name, or not showing all partners, the nature of trade and the address
• Firm PAN not yet obtained, or the PAN name not matching the deed
• Applicant's Aadhaar not linked to the mobile number used for the portal login
• Particulars in Form No. 1 (partner addresses, joining dates, places of business) not matching the deed
• Witness photograph or signature missing, or blurred scans
• A firm name using a restricted word under Section 58(3) without government consent
• Branch offices named in the deed but no branch trade licence uploaded

A returned file is not a refusal. It comes back with the deficiencies listed, and the Registrar may ask for an affidavit or a supplementary deed to cure them. But each return restarts part of the clock, so a complete first submission is the fastest route.

Recording changes in a registered firm (Sections 60 to 63)

Registration is a snapshot. Every later change should be filed with the Registrar of Firms, West Bengal, in the relevant form, at ₹100 per form.

West Bengal has not added a statutory deadline for these notices, unlike Maharashtra. Do not read that as permission to skip them. Under Section 68 the register is conclusive against the people who signed it, and a retiring partner who is still shown on the register can find it used against them. File the change with a supplementary deed as soon as it happens.

Dissolution of a registered firm

• Dissolve under the deed or by agreement, or for a partnership at will by written notice from any partner to all the others (Section 43).
• Settle accounts, pay creditors and distribute what remains under Section 48.
• File the notice of dissolution with the Registrar of Firms under Section 63(1).
• Give public notice: for a registered firm, notice to the Registrar plus publication in the Official Gazette and in at least one vernacular newspaper circulating in the district (Section 72).
• Close the firm's GST registration, file the final income-tax return and close the bank account.

West Bengal compared with other states

The Indian Partnership Act is a central law, but states can amend the registration chapter and set their own fees. West Bengal follows the central text; Maharashtra is the best-known state that has tightened it.

A firm registers with the Registrar of the state where its place of business is located. A Kolkata firm with a Mumbai branch registers in West Bengal and declares the branch; it does not register twice.

After the certificate

• TAN, before the firm first deducts tax at source
• GST registration where the threshold or the nature of supply requires it
• West Bengal professional tax enrolment for the firm, and employer registration if it has staff — see our West Bengal professional tax guide
• A current account in the firm's name
• Annual income-tax return for the firm and trade licence renewal; for year-round support see partnership firm compliance

For a fuller national picture of deeds, taxation and compliance, read our partnership firm registration guide. If you want us to handle the West Bengal filing end to end, see partnership firm registration in West Bengal and Kolkata, or our national partnership firm registration service.

Frequently Asked Questions