DIN: what a Director Identification Number is, how to get one (with incorporation or through DIR-3), the yearly KYC, and what deactivates it

Every director of every Indian company holds a Director Identification Number, and no one can be appointed a director without one. It is the first thing a founder needs and the thing most often left until a filing is blocked because it has been deactivated. This guide covers what the number is, the two routes to get it, the documents, the yearly KYC that keeps it alive, and the penalties for the two mistakes people make: holding two, and missing the KYC. Everything is as of September 2026.

What a DIN is

Sections 153 to 159 of the Companies Act 2013 create the DIN. It is an 8-digit number allotted by the Central Government, through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, to an individual. Section 152(3) says a person shall not be appointed a director of a company unless they have been allotted a DIN; section 158 requires the DIN to be quoted in every return, information or particulars that relate to the director; section 155 forbids holding more than one.

Three properties matter in practice. The DIN belongs to the person, not to any company: one number serves every directorship the person ever holds. It has no expiry. And it is a public record: the MCA portal’s View Signatory Details and the director master data show which companies a DIN is attached to, which is what a bank, an investor or a counterparty looks at during diligence.

Who needs one

• Every director of a company: private, public, one person company, Section 8, producer company.
• Every designated partner of an LLP. The DPIN that used to be issued separately has been merged into the DIN; a DIN serves as the DPIN.
• Anyone proposed to be appointed a director, before the appointment can be filed.

A shareholder who is not a director does not need one. Nor does a proprietor or an ordinary partner of a partnership firm. A foreign national who will be a director does need one, and gets it by the same routes with apostilled documents.

Route 1: with incorporation, through SPICe+

Since 2018 the incorporation form has carried the DIN application inside it. In SPICe+ Part B, up to three proposed directors who do not hold a DIN are marked as applicants; their photograph, PAN, address proof and personal details go into the same form, which is signed with their DSC and certified by the professional filing the incorporation. When the certificate of incorporation is issued, the DINs are allotted at the same time. There is no separate fee and no separate application.

The limit is three. A company being formed with four first-time directors either has one of them apply in Form DIR-3 before filing SPICe+, or incorporates with three and appoints the fourth afterwards. The same applies to LLPs through FiLLiP, which allots DINs for up to two designated partners at incorporation.

Route 2: an existing company, through Form DIR-3

A person joining the board of a company that already exists applies in Form DIR-3 on the MCA V3 portal. Rule 9 of the Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules 2014 governs it. The steps:

1. Get a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate in the applicant’s name from a licensed certifying authority. The form cannot be signed without it.
2. Register as a business user on the MCA V3 portal and associate the DSC.
3. Fill DIR-3: name, father’s name, date of birth and gender exactly as on PAN (the portal verifies them against the PAN database and rejects mismatches), nationality, occupation, present and permanent address, email and mobile (verified by OTP), and the CIN of the company proposing the appointment.
4. Attach a photograph, PAN, proof of address not older than two months where it is a bill or statement, and the board resolution of the proposing company. Foreign nationals attach a passport and get the documents apostilled or notarised as Rule 9 requires.
5. Get it certified by a practising chartered accountant, company secretary or cost accountant, who digitally signs the form.
6. Pay the fee of ₹500 and submit. An approved application generates the DIN, usually within a day or two; the portal marks it “approved” and the number is emailed to the applicant.

A DIR-3 can be put under “resubmission” if a document is unclear or the details do not match PAN. Fix and resubmit within the time given, or the application lapses and the fee is lost.

Documents, for either route

The yearly KYC that keeps the DIN alive

Rule 12A requires every individual who holds a DIN as on 31 March to file their KYC with the Registrar by 30 September of that year. There are two forms:

• e-Form DIR-3 KYC, the full form, for the first KYC after allotment and for any year in which the mobile number, email address or other particulars have changed. It is signed with the director’s DSC and certified by a practising professional.
• DIR-3 KYC-WEB, a web service on the portal, for a year in which nothing has changed since the last filing. The director logs in, confirms the pre-filled details, and verifies with OTPs to the registered mobile and email. No DSC, no professional, a few minutes.

Filed on time, both are free. A DIN whose KYC is not filed by 30 September is marked “Deactivated due to non-filing of DIR-3 KYC”. While deactivated the person cannot sign any form for any company, cannot be appointed elsewhere and cannot even file a resignation, so a company’s annual return and financial statements, which need a director’s DSC, stall with it. Reactivation is by filing the KYC with a late fee of ₹5,000. In our experience the deactivated DIN is discovered in October or November, when the annual filings come due, which is the most expensive time to discover it. Put 30 September in the calendar the day the DIN is allotted.

One DIN, ever

Section 155 prohibits applying for, obtaining or possessing a second DIN. It happens more often than it should: a director forgets they were allotted one years ago through a company that was later struck off, or a consultant files DIR-3 for a person who already got a DIN through SPICe+ elsewhere. The portal checks PAN and usually catches it, but where a duplicate exists, the later DIN is surrendered in Form DIR-5 and the earlier one kept. Section 159 provides a penalty of up to ₹50,000 on the individual, with a further ₹500 a day while the default continues. Before applying, check Verify DIN/DPIN on the MCA portal with your PAN.

Changes, surrender and disqualification

Changes to the particulars on record (address, name after marriage, nationality) are filed in Form DIR-6, with the supporting document, within 30 days of the change. There is no fee.

Surrender of a DIN is possible in Form DIR-5 only if it has never been used in any filing, or is a duplicate, or the holder has died or been declared of unsound mind or insolvent. A DIN that has ever been attached to a company cannot simply be given up.

Disqualification under section 164 does not cancel the DIN but flags it. A director of a company that has not filed its financial statements or annual returns for three consecutive financial years is disqualified for five years from every directorship and from being appointed anywhere, and the DIN is marked accordingly. This is the most common way a founder’s DIN becomes unusable, and it comes from a dormant company that was never closed properly. If you have a company that is not trading, either keep it filing or strike it off; do not leave it.

DIN, DSC and PAN: which is which

The order to do things in

Founding a company: get each proposed director a Class 3 DSC, check none of them already holds a DIN, and let SPICe+ allot the numbers with incorporation. Joining an existing board: DSC first, then DIR-3 with a board resolution, then the appointment is filed in DIR-12 within 30 days. In both cases, register the 30 September KYC in the calendar, keep the mobile and email on record current so the OTPs arrive, and never let a company you direct go three years without filing.