Form CSR-1: the registration implementing agencies need

Form CSR-1 is the online form an organisation files with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to register as a CSR implementing agency, that is, an organisation that carries out CSR projects on a company’s behalf. Since 1 April 2021, every Section 8 company, registered trust or society, government-established body or statutory body that wants to implement CSR projects must have filed it and received a CSR registration number.

For NGOs, CSR-1 is the door to CSR funding: without the number, a company’s money spent through you may not count towards its obligation. For CSR teams, it is one of the first things to check and one of the easiest to misread, because it shows that an organisation is registered as eligible, not that it does good work.

This guide covers who must register, what you need first, what the form introduced in July 2025 asks, how to file, how to check a number and the errors that cause trouble.

What CSR-1 is

The rule sits in the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 (the CSR Rules). The MCA says registration was meant to build a database of implementing agencies for companies that may want to engage them, and to bring “accountability and transparency” to CSR (FAQ 5.5 of its CSR FAQs, General Circular 14/2021). By 31 October 2021, 17,130 organisations had registered, according to the MCA’s reply in Parliament; that is the latest official count we have found.

Two points matter. The number is issued once, against the organisation’s PAN, and Rule 4(2) gives it no expiry date. And it is a gate, not a quality mark: it records that an organisation has registered, with a professional certifying its particulars. It doesn’t mean anyone has assessed its work.

Who must register, and who needn’t

Not-for-profit organisations issuing zero coupon zero principal instruments on a Social Stock Exchange are a newer case. Rule 4A(4) applies Rule 4 to that route, apart from sub-rules (5) and (6), so an issuer should expect companies to ask for its CSR registration number. See the Social Stock Exchange.

What you need before you file

CSR-1 comes at the end of a sequence. The form asks you to state your legal form and tax status, so those must be settled first.

1. A qualifying legal form: a Section 8 company, a registered public trust or a registered society. Where a state doesn’t require public trusts to register, a trust registered under the Income-tax Act counts (FAQ 5.4).
2. A PAN in the organisation’s name.
3. Income-tax registrations, unless a government set you up (FAQ 5.3): registration for exemption and approval for donors’ deduction. The Rules and the form still use the Income-tax Act, 1961 numbers: section 12A with section 80G, or exemption under section 10(23C)(iv), (v), (vi) or (via) with section 80G. Since 1 April 2026 they are registration under section 332 and approval under section 354 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and old registrations carry over until they expire. No new section 10(23C) approval can be granted on an application made on or after 1 October 2024. See income-tax registration for NGOs.
4. For an independent NGO, three years of similar activities. The form asks whether a company set you up and, if not, whether you have “an established track record of three years in undertaking similar activities”.
5. A resolution of your board or governing body authorising someone to sign the form, with its number and date.
6. A digital signature certificate (DSC) for that signatory, and a practising professional to certify the form.

What the July 2025 form asks

The MCA replaced Form CSR-1 through G.S.R. 452(E), the Companies (CSR Policy) Amendment Rules, 2025, dated 7 July 2025, with effect from 14 July 2025. It is now a web form on the MCA21 portal rather than a downloadable PDF.

Check the MCA’s current instruction kit before you file, because portal fields and attachments can change.

How to file, step by step

1. Confirm your route under Rule 4(1), and that your tax registrations are current.
2. Collect the documents: registration certificate, PAN, income-tax orders, the authorising resolution, and the names, designations, DIN or PAN and emails of the people who run the organisation.
3. Get a DSC for the signatory. The form names who signs: a director of a Section 8 company, a trustee or chief executive of a trust, the chairperson, chief executive or secretary of a society, or an authorised representative of a statutory body.
4. Engage a practising chartered accountant, company secretary or cost accountant, who checks your records and certifies the form with their own DSC.
5. Sign in to the MCA portal with a user account and open e-form CSR-1.
6. Fill in the details exactly as they appear on your documents, verify the email address with the one-time password, and attach the certificate of registration and PAN.
7. Sign, have the professional certify, and submit. Note the service request number (SRN).
8. Keep the MCA’s approval showing your CSR registration number, and send a copy to the companies you work with.

Your CSR registration number, and how companies check it

Companies quote it in Form CSR-2, their annual CSR filing, for projects run through you. It also lets you register on the MCA’s National CSR Exchange Portal (csrxchange.gov.in), where agencies list projects and companies search for partners. It isn’t the same as your NGO Darpan ID from NITI Aayog, or the 16-digit unique registration number on your income-tax order, so keep all three on your profile.

For CSR teams, checking a number means:

• asking for the MCA’s CSR-1 approval, and checking that the name, PAN and address match the NGO’s other documents;
• remembering that the MCA issues one number against each PAN, so a sister organisation’s number doesn’t count;
• looking for the organisation on the National CSR Exchange Portal, bearing in mind that not every registered agency lists itself;
• for large grants, asking your company secretary to confirm the registration through the MCA’s systems.

Then carry on with the rest of your checks: see choosing an NGO partner.

Already registered? The new form, and staying eligible

Agencies that already have a CSR registration number don’t file the new form. The instruction kit for the July 2025 form asks filers to make sure a number hasn’t already been issued against the entity’s PAN, as the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy reported in August 2025.

Your number doesn’t expire, but your eligibility can, because it depends on the registrations behind it. If your income-tax registration or approval lapses or is cancelled, companies may no longer be able to count spending through you. Apply to renew each at least six months before it expires (sections 332(3) and 354(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025), and tell your funders promptly about any change to your name, address, registrations or the people who run you. If your details change, ask a professional how to bring the MCA’s records up to date.

Common errors

• Filing before the income-tax registrations are in place, or choosing the wrong “nature of the entity”.
• Claiming a track record in work that isn’t similar to the CSR projects you will run.
• Names, addresses or PANs that don’t quite match across documents.
• A missing or wrong resolution, such as one authorising a different person.
• Using a sister organisation’s CSR registration number.
• Filing again when you already have a number.
• Letting the income-tax registrations behind it lapse.
• Describing CSR-1 as government approval. It isn’t: never call an organisation “verified” or “approved” because it has a CSR registration number.