Company formation
Registering a Company in Pakistan on SECP eZfile
Reserve a name, file the incorporation application, and receive a certificate of incorporation. On SECP eZfile the electronic fee is Rs 1,000 for name reservation and Rs 6,050 to register a company with nominal capital up to Rs 100,000. There is no minimum capital requirement. One person can form a single member company, and nearly two in five new Pakistani companies now are.
We do this for clients:Company Registration in PakistanSECP Corporate Compliance in Pakistan
Where these figures come from
- Sources
- Sourced from the Companies Act 2017 and SECP's published fee schedule (the Seventh Schedule), with the eZfile steps as SECP describes them.
- Last checked against the sources
- by BarrioVibe.
This is general guidance from the sources above, not advice on your situation. Procedures and official fees change, so confirm the current position before you file, or speak to us first.
What it actually costs
From the Seventh Schedule to the Companies Act 2017, effective 21 April 2025. Filing electronically costs roughly half what filing on paper does.
| Item | Electronic | Physical |
|---|---|---|
| Name reservation | Rs 1,000 | Rs 2,000 |
| Registration, nominal capital up to Rs 100,000 | Rs 6,050 | Rs 11,000 |
| Each additional Rs 100,000 or part, up to Rs 5bn | Rs 847 | Rs 847 |
| Each additional Rs 100,000 or part, above Rs 5bn | Rs 200 | Rs 200 |
| Company limited by guarantee | Rs 22,000 | Rs 33,000 |
| Fee cap | Rs 40 million | Rs 50 million |
There is no minimum capital
SECP's own FAQ says it directly: "There is no minimum requirement of authorized capital. However, minimum fee is charged according to authorized capital of Rs.100,000/-". The Rs 100,000 that appears everywhere is the lowest fee slab, not a sum you must have.
This myth costs people real money, because it pushes founders into declaring capital they do not need and paying a fee band they did not have to enter.
Which vehicle to form
Section 14 of the Companies Act 2017 sets the member minimums and section 154 the director minimums. Note that these are two different rules, which competitors routinely merge.
| Type | Members | Directors |
|---|---|---|
| Single member company | 1 | At least 1 |
| Private limited | 2 to 50 | Not less than 2 |
| Public, unlisted | 3 or more | Not less than 3 |
| Public, listed | 3 or more | Not less than 7 |
Reserving the name
SECP disposes of a complete application submitted before 10:00 a.m. on a working day the same day, and one submitted later on the next working day. You may propose three names in order of priority.
- 1
Check the prohibited words list
SECP publishes 56 of them, including Bank, Exchange, Federal, Foundation, Fund, Insurance, Investment, State and University. Some are outright barred and some need prior written approval under section 10(2).
- 2
Get the spelling exactly right
SECP's rule is unusually strict: any deviation in dictionary spellings will not be accepted. A deliberate misspelling to make a name available will be rejected.
- 3
Avoid country names other than Pakistan
A name may not contain a country name or nationality other than Pakistan, except on sufficient justification. Pakistan combined with another country needs documentary evidence of a joint venture.
- 4
Note the sixty-day clock
Section 10(4): a reservation lasts not more than sixty days. If incorporation slips past that, the name is free again.
What the incorporation application contains
Section 16(1) of the Companies Act 2017 lists four things.
- A declaration of compliance with the Act, by an authorised intermediary or by a person named in the articles as a director
- The memorandum of association, signed by all subscribers, witnessed and dated
- The articles of association, signed and witnessed. Optional for a company limited by shares, required for a company limited by guarantee or an unlimited company
- An address for correspondence until the registered office is established and notified
What happens after you file
If a document is incomplete, defective or contains matter contrary to law, the registrar may require a revised document within a specified period under section 16(2), and may refuse registration if the defect is not cured in time under section 16(3). On being satisfied, he registers the company and issues a certificate of incorporation.
That certificate is conclusive evidence of compliance under section 16(8), which is a stronger statement than it sounds: once issued, the incorporation cannot be attacked for a procedural failure. If registration is refused, section 16(9) gives subscribers thirty days to appeal to the Commission, and that order is final.
Your NTN arrives on its own
SECP and FBR run a one-window facility built on back-end integration: register through the SECP portal and the National Tax Number is issued automatically to the company's email address. As of January 2026 SECP states eZfile is integrated with FBR, EOBI and the provincial departments.
Worth knowing before you appoint anyone: section 153(1)(h) of the Companies Act disqualifies a person from being a director if he does not hold a National Tax Number, subject to Commission exemption.
The annual calendar
Two of these deadlines are commonly published wrong. Form 29 is fifteen days, not thirty, and the forty-five days attached to Form A is an extension ceiling for listed companies rather than a separate class.
| Obligation | Deadline | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Registered office notified | 30 days from incorporation | SECP |
| Subscription money paid in cash | 30 days from incorporation | s.17(2) |
| Report of subscription money, with CA or CMA certificate | 45 days from incorporation | s.17(3) |
| First annual general meeting | Within 16 months of incorporation | s.132 |
| Later AGMs | Within 120 days of financial year end | s.132 |
| Form A or B, annual return | 30 days from the AGM | s.130(3) |
| Form 29, change of directors or officers | 15 days from the change | s.197(3) |
Is eZfile compulsory?
In practice, yes. eZfile went live in February 2024 and an enhanced release in March 2025 moved several processes to it exclusively, including foreign company registration, mortgages and charges, and changes to the principal line of business. SECP reports that 99.9 percent of company registrations are now completed entirely online.
In law, the position is less tidy than that sounds. SECP has published no formal notice retiring eServices, and its own legacy eServices pages were still live in September 2026, describing the old flow and citing the Companies Ordinance 1984, which was repealed by the 2017 Act. If you find yourself on one of those pages, you are reading history.
Questions
The questionspeople ask
How much does it cost to register a company in Pakistan?
Under the Seventh Schedule effective 21 April 2025, filing electronically costs Rs 1,000 for name reservation and Rs 6,050 to register a company with nominal capital up to Rs 100,000, rising by Rs 847 for each additional Rs 100,000. Filing on paper roughly doubles the registration fee. The schedule also contains a 10 percent annual escalator whose application from April 2026 we could not confirm, so check the challan eZfile generates.
Is there a minimum capital to register a company in Pakistan?
No. SECP states there is no minimum requirement of authorised capital. The Rs 100,000 figure that circulates is the lowest fee slab, not a capital requirement.
How long does name reservation take?
SECP disposes of a complete application submitted by 10:00 a.m. on a working day the same day, and one submitted after that on the next working day. The reservation then lasts not more than sixty days under section 10(4).
How many directors does a private limited company need in Pakistan?
Not less than two under section 154(1)(b). A single member company needs at least one, an unlisted public company not less than three, and a listed company not less than seven. Only a natural person may be a director.
What documents does SECP need to incorporate a company?
Section 16(1) requires a declaration of compliance, the memorandum of association signed by all subscribers and witnessed, the articles of association where required, and an address for correspondence. Particulars of the first directors are submitted with them under section 157.
Do I need a digital signature to register a company?
Possibly not. Consultant pages commonly say a paid NIFT digital signature is required, but SECP's own getting-started material describes a PIN sent by SMS and email, and we could not find an SECP page requiring a purchased certificate for a standard incorporation. Confirm with SECP before buying one.
Do I get an NTN automatically when I register a company?
Yes. Under the SECP and FBR one-window facility, registering through the SECP portal causes the National Tax Number to be issued automatically to the company email address.
When is Form 29 due?
Within fifteen days of the appointment of or change in a director or officer, under section 197(3). The proviso excludes the first appointment made at incorporation. Pages stating thirty days are wrong.
Does a dormant company have to file an annual return?
Not necessarily. Under section 130(5), a company with no change of particulars since its last annual return is exempt from filing. A single member company or a private company with paid-up capital of not more than three million rupees files nothing at all; any larger company must still inform the registrar that nothing has changed.
Also here
Relatedguides
Rather have the incorporation handled?
The share money has to be paid within thirty days and certified within forty-five, and most founders find that out late. We do the filing and the certificate together.