According to section 2 (20) of companies act 2013;
"Company means a company incorporated under this act or under any previous company law"
In simple words; company is an artificial person
have separate legal entity, perpetual succession and a common seal.
Various characteristics of a company are:-
{Mnemonic to learn characteristics- TCS ke CS ne P LASI }
T means transferability of share I.e, shares of a company are always transferable although the right to transfer may be more or less restricted depending on whether the company is public or private.
C means common seal -every company has a common seal of its own and every contract containing company's common seal is deemed to be entered by the company.
S means seperate management and ownership I.e, in a company all the persons who are owners are not the ones who manage the company. The management of the company is with few representatives of the owners.
C means that company has a capacity to sue and be sued in its own name.
S means separate property I.e, the company is capable to hold property in its own name and property of company is of the company and not of its manager or owners.
P means perpetual succession I.e, the company's existence is not affected by existence of its members.
L means limited liability - the liability of members of the is limited by the amount of shares unpaid or guaranteed as the case may be.
A means association of persons I.e, company is incorporated having various members.
S means seperate legal entity I.e, company has a legal entity seperate from its members.
I means company is incorporated.
