Companies and limited liability partnership firms floated by private entities should not use the word 'National' in their names, the government has said. 

The Corporate Affairs Ministry's latest move comes against the backdrop of instances where private entities are using the word 'National' in names while setting up companies or LLPs. 

Similarly, the Ministry has said that words such as 'Bank', 'Stock Exchange' and 'Exchange' should be used only after receiving no-objection certificates from concerned sectoral regulators. 

"It is being intimated that no company should be allowed to be registered with the word 'National' as part of its title unless it is a government company and the central/state government(s) has a stake in it," the Ministry has said. 

All Registrar of Companies (RoCs) have been asked to follow this directive strictly while registering companies. 

A circular in this regard has been issued to all stakeholders and Regional Directors, among others. 

For entities wanting to have the word 'Bank' in their names, the same can be allowed only after producing a 'No Objection Certificate' from the Reserve Bank of India. 

"By the same analogy the word 'Stock Exchange' or 'Exchange' should be allowed in name of a company only where 'No Objection Certificate' from Sebi in this regard is produced by the promoters," the circular said. 

RoCs come under the Ministry, which implements he Companies Act. 

Under the draft rules for new Companies Act, government had proposed that phonetic or spelling variations of existing names or similar-sounding words would not allowed for new companies. 

The new rules bar the use of abbreviations and country and state names, except for some government units. Terms such as 'British India' and names of 'enemy' countries will not be allowed. 

The government had suggested an indicative list of dos and don'ts to be followed while incorporating a company in the country to ensure that names of companies reflect the nature of their businesses, to the extent possible. 

Besides, the ministry had drawn up a list of words and combinations such as Board, Commission, Authority and Rashtrapati that can't be used without prior approval of the central government. 

Other words on the list include Undertaking, National, Union, Central, Federal, Republic, President, Small Scale Industries, Khadi and Village Industries Corporation and Development Authority. (Economic Times)