A Company Name Change is a significant corporate action governed by Section 13 and Section 4 of the Companies Act, 2013. The "trigger" for this compliance occurs when the Board of Directors resolves that the existing name no longer serves the company's strategic interests—whether due to a rebranding exercise, a change in business activity, or a mandate from the Central Government/Court to change a name that is too similar to an existing entity.

In the 2026 MCA V3 regulatory ecosystem, the name change process is strictly webbased and divided into two distinct phases: Reservation and Alteration. The first step is filing the RUN (Reserve Unique Name) web-form, where the proposed name is checked against the MCA database and trademark registry. Once the name is approved, the clock starts on the legal mandate to alter the Memorandum of Association (MoA) and Articles of Association (AoA).

For the FY 2025–26 cycle, the MCA has tightened the scrutiny on "Name Availability" to prevent trademark conflicts. Furthermore, the company must ensure its Audit Trail (Edit Log) software is updated to reflect the new name across all digital ledgers immediately upon the issuance of the new Certificate of Incorporation (CoI). This process is not merely a label change; it requires a Special Resolution passed by the members and the formal surrender of the old CoI. The effective date of the name change is the date on the fresh CoI issued by the Registrar of Companies (ROC).