New Delhi, Nov. 6 -- The ministry of corporate affairs has passed orders to roll out a revamped compliance and oversight system for companies and LLPs starting 1 January 2026-the biggest administrative shake-up in years-aimed at improving both ease of doing business as well as regulatory efficiency, a person with direct knowledge of the decision said. The shake-up will see the creation of six new registrars of companies (RoCs) - officers who monitor companies' compliance with the Companies Act and LLP Act-and three new regional directors (RDs), who oversee the work of RoCs. It has also redrawn jurisdictions across states to make regulation more local, responsive, and business-friendly. The move comes as India sees a surge in new entities-nearly 150,000 companies and 75,000 LLPs are incorporated every year-creating pressure on the existing oversight system. "The expanded workforce and reallocation of jurisdiction make RoCs and RDs more accessible to local businesses," the person cited above said on condition of not being named.While officials say the restructuring will make corporate regulators more accessible and efficient, experts call it a timely response to India's fast-expanding business landscape. "The restructuring of the RoC and regional director framework represents a strategic response to India's rapidly expanding corporate ecosystem," said Vikash Thakur, associate director at Nexdigm, a consultancy. According to Asish Philip, executive partner at Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan attorneys, the ministry of corporate affairs recently expanded the scope of eligibility for companies to apply for fast-track mergers, and the latest increase in the number of offices will strengthen the ability of RDs to approve applications in a time-bound manner. The ministry is also expected to step up the rigour of research going into the government's enforcement actions, according to the person cited above. Currently, there are 26 RoCs in India, with Delhi and Haryana sharing one, and the seven north-eastern states sharing one RoC functioning from Guwahati in Assam. As per two separate orders issued by the ministry of corporate affairs, Delhi will get two RoCs after the revamp-one for South Delhi and one for Central Delhi-while Haryana will get one RoC functioning from Chandigarh. At present, one RoC took care of both states. Uttar Pradesh now gets a second RoC-in addition to the existing one in Kanpur-who will function from Noida. Maharashtra will have two new RoCs-in Navi Mumbai and Nagpur-in addition to those at Mumbai and Pune. Kolkata, too, will have a new RoC. At present, there are seven RDs who look after the work of the RoCs. These are in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Shillong, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, and they look after the northern region, north western region, north east, east, south, west and south east, respectively. The RD structure has now been expanded to 10 regional directorates for companies and LLPs, showed another set of two orders from the ministry. RoCs are government officers who keep track of all registered companies and LLPs in India. They handle everything from the registration of new businesses to ensuring that existing ones follow the rules under the Companies Act and the LLP Act. Every company has to file its annual financial statements and returns with the RoC in the jurisdiction in which the company is headquartered. This arrangement helps the government monitor compliance and maintain an official record of India's corporate activity. RoCs also step in when companies fail to meet legal requirements. With over 1.82 million active companies as of January 2025, the addition of six new RoC offices and three new RD offices aims to enhance administrative efficiency, said Thakur of Nexdigm....