Name Change in Trade Licence and Shop Establishment Registration in Jharkhand
Every other record on this website waits for you. You notice a wrong name, you apply, the office corrects it. This one is the other way round. Under the Jharkhand Shops and Establishments Rules, 2001, Rule 4(1) provides that an employer shall notify the Inspecting Officer, in Form IV, of any change in the particulars furnished in his application, "within seven days of the occurrence of the change". Not when you get round to it. Seven days, and the duty is yours. That is the tightest clock on this entire website, and almost no shopkeeper in Ranchi or Jamshedpur has been told it exists. The trade licence side sits with your municipal body and works differently again, and the route there has a name you need to ask for correctly.
These are two separate registrations at two separate offices, and one of them has a seven day duty attached to it. Shop and establishment registration sits with the Labour Department, under the Bihar Shops and Establishments Act, 1953 as it applies in this State, with the Jharkhand Shops and Establishments Rules, 2001 made under it. Rule 3(1) requires every employer to apply for registration in Form I within thirty days. Then Rule 4(1) does the thing nobody expects: an employer "shall notify to the Inspecting Officer in Form IV any change in respect of any particulars furnished in his application in Form I ... within seven days of the occurrence of the change". So a name change is not a request you make, it is a notice you owe. Rule 4(3) then provides that on receipt of the Form IV notice, accompanied by the registration certificate and the challan or postal order, the Inspecting Officer makes the changes in the Register of Establishments and amends the registration certificate. Note that your certificate travels with the notice. And Rule 8 provides that if any statement made in Form I or Form IV "is found to be incorrect, the employer shall be punished with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees", which tells you the rules care more about the notice being accurate than about it being quick. The trade licence is a different animal, issued by your urban local body, and on the Government of Jharkhand municipal services portal the route you want is labelled Amendment Licence, alongside new licence, renewal and surrender. Ask for it by that name. No gazette is involved in either of them.
Why a Shop Establishment Name Change Is a Duty You Owe, Not a Request You Make
Read the two sentences side by side and you will see why this page is written differently from every other page here.
| On almost every other record | On a shop establishment registration |
|---|---|
| You notice something wrong and apply for a correction | The employer "shall notify" the change. Rule 4(1) is worded as an obligation on you, not as a facility for you |
| There is no deadline, or a generous one | Seven days from the occurrence of the change. The shortest period anywhere on this website, and it starts at the change and not at the noticing |
| You choose when to start, and delay costs you convenience | Delay is a default in a statutory duty. That is a different kind of problem from an inconvenient spelling |
| You write a letter in your own words | There is a prescribed form with a number, Form IV. This is the only page on this website where we can name the form with confidence, because the rule names it |
| You keep your certificate and the office issues a new one later | Rule 4(3) has the notice accompanied by the registration certificate. Your certificate goes in with the notice and comes back amended |
| An error in your application is a delay | Rule 8 provides a fine up to one hundred rupees where a statement in Form I or Form IV is found to be incorrect. Small money, but it tells you accuracy is the point |
Shop and Establishment Name Change in Jharkhand: Form IV and the Inspecting Officer
This section is quoted from the rules rather than taken from practice, which is why it is the most reliable thing on the page. Four rules do the whole job.
| The rule | What it provides, and what it means for you |
|---|---|
| Rule 3(1), registration at the start | That "every employer shall, within thirty days of the application of these rules to his establishment, make an application in duplicate, in Form I to the Inspecting Officer for registration of the Establishment". Note in duplicate, and note the officer's title. Your original Form I is the document every later notice refers back to |
| Rule 4(1), the duty to notify a change | That an employer "shall notify to the Inspecting Officer in Form IV any change in respect of any particulars furnished in his application in Form I ... within seven days of the occurrence of the change". This is the operative rule for a name change and the source of the seven days |
| Rule 4(3), what the office then does | That on receipt of the notice in Form IV, "accompanied by the registration certificate and the treasury challan or the Indian Postal Order", the Inspecting Officer, on being satisfied about its correctness, "makes the necessary changes in the 'Register of Establishments', and amend the registration certificate" |
| Rule 8, the penalty | That "if any statement made in Form I or in Form IV is found to be incorrect, the employer shall be punished with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees". The amount is small. The point is that the notice is a sworn kind of statement, so get it right |
| What Rule 4(3) tells you to carry | Three things, and people arrive with one. The Form IV notice, the registration certificate itself, and the treasury challan or Indian Postal Order. Going without the certificate means going twice |
| Where the change is actually recorded | In the Register of Establishments, and then on your certificate. So there are two records here as well, the office's register and your paper, and Rule 4(3) has the officer amend both |
Trade Licence Name Change in Jharkhand, and the Word You Have to Ask For
The trade licence is a completely separate registration, from a completely different authority, and the two offices do not update each other. This catches every business that assumes one certificate covers both.
| The point | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Who issues it | Your urban local body, the Municipal Corporation, Nagar Parishad or Nagar Panchayat for the place the business sits in. Not the Labour Department, and not the GST office |
| The route to ask for, by name | On the Government of Jharkhand municipal services portal the trade licence services are listed as Apply For New Licence, Renew Licence, Surrender Licence and Amendment Licence. The one you want is the Amendment Licence. Ask for it in those words rather than asking to change a name |
| What is not listed there | We looked, and the portal page we read did not list a transfer or a duplicate option among those services. So do not assume a transfer route exists. If the business itself has changed hands, ask the body specifically rather than filing an amendment and hoping |
| Which bodies are covered online | The page we read showed Ranchi Municipal Corporation. Jharkhand has many urban local bodies, so if yours is Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else, check whether your body is on the portal at all before planning an online route |
| What we could not verify | No fee and no validity period was stated on the page we read, and we are not going to supply either from memory. A trade licence is generally a renewable thing, and the renewal is the natural moment to have details corrected, but ask your own body for its period and its charge |
| Why the two must agree | An inspector, a bank, a supplier or a landlord may ask for both. A shop registered under one name with the Labour Department and licensed under another by the municipality is a question waiting to be asked at the worst moment |
Every Name Change Deadline in Jharkhand, in One Table
We have now verified enough deadlines across enough records to put them side by side, and seeing them together is genuinely useful. Every period in this table is one we have quoted from a rule, a circular or an Act on the page it belongs to. The shop establishment duty is the tightest of them all.
| The record | The period | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Shop and establishment registration | 7 days | To notify the Inspecting Officer in Form IV of a change in the particulars furnished in Form I, from the occurrence of the change. Rule 4(1), this page |
| Motor insurance after a vehicle transfer | 14 days | For the transferee to apply to the insurer with the details of the transfer under section 157 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Our health and motor insurance page |
| GST registration | 15 days | To submit the application for amendment of registration from the date of the change. Our Udyam and GST registration page |
| Shop and establishment registration, at the start | 30 days | For an employer to apply in Form I for registration of the establishment. Rule 3(1), this page |
| Electricity supply, on a complete application | 30 days | The period the gazetted State supply code allows, and the only such timeline we print anywhere. Our electricity bill page |
| Securities market KYC | 2 days, on the regulator's side | Not your deadline but the KRA's, to verify PAN, name and address of records of all clients. Our demat and mutual fund page |
| Central Gazette file | Nothing older than one year | Not a deadline to act but a limit on how old your papers may be. Our documents required page |
How to Change a Name in a Trade Licence and Shop Registration, Step by Step
Work out what actually changed, and when
The date matters here more than on any other page, because the seven days runs from the occurrence of the change. Write the date down before anything else.
Settle the upstream records first, if you can do it fast
For a proprietor the chain starts at Aadhaar and PAN. But do not hold the Form IV notice for months waiting on them. Notify what has changed, accurately, as it stands.
Find your original Form I
Because Form IV notifies a change against the particulars you furnished in Form I. If you cannot find it, ask the office what the Register of Establishments shows against your registration.
Read the whole of Form I, not just the name
Address, nature of business, employer particulars. Notify everything that has moved in one notice rather than going back three times.
Fill Form IV accurately
Rule 8 provides a fine where a statement in Form I or Form IV is found to be incorrect. Accuracy beats speed. Read it twice before signing it.
Take the three things Rule 4(3) names
The Form IV notice, the registration certificate itself, and the treasury challan or Indian Postal Order. Photocopy all of it for your own file first.
Get the amended certificate and read it
Rule 4(3) has the Inspecting Officer change the Register of Establishments and amend the registration certificate. Check the amended certificate letter by letter at the counter.
Now start the trade licence separately
Different office, different file, no forwarding. On the State municipal services portal the route is the Amendment Licence. Ask for it by that name.
Check whether your urban local body is online at all
The portal page we read showed Ranchi Municipal Corporation. If your body is elsewhere in the State, confirm before planning an online route, and be ready to go in person.
Ask the body for its own list, fee and period
We print none of those, because we verified none. Let the body's written answer be your list, and ask when the licence next falls due, since a renewal is the cheapest moment for a correction.
Bring the rest of the business records into line
The GST and Udyam registrations, the bank account, the electricity connection for the premises, and the signboard.
Keep one folder with every received stamp
Both notices, both amended certificates, the challan, and every acknowledgement. An inspector asking about your registration in three years is answered from that folder or not at all.
Where the difficulty is that a proprietor's own name appears in two proper forms, see our short name and full name page, and to decide whether your case is a correction or a genuine change of name, our correction against change of name page sets out the test.
Central Gazette Process for a Name From Jharkhand, and Where It Fits a Trade Licence
No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so a genuine file goes from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else in the state to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the notice publishes in Part IV of the Gazette of India. As reported in July 2025 the Finance Department stopped personal name change notifications from the Jharkhand Government Press with immediate effect, so there is no state alternative to fall back on.
The Eight Steps of a Name File Sent From Jharkhand
Settle the final name first
Letter by letter, with the spacing you want, and then use exactly that everywhere, Aadhaar and PAN included. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.
Pick the category, then its proforma
A genuine change of name is change of Name Adult or Major. A wrongly typed spelling is the public notice for a wrongly written name. Twelve categories exist and only one is yours.
Type the proforma in duplicate
Two originals with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. A change of name is signed in the old name; a public notice is signed in your own name.
Fill the employment field if it is a change of name
The adult proforma asks for the post of the applicant and the office or company name. A shop owner filling this should name the business rather than leave it blank, because a blank field brings the file back.
Publish and keep the original paper
One of the daily local leading newspapers, carrying both names in full, the father or husband name and the residential address. The whole original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.
Pay only through BharatKosh
The Non Tax Receipt Portal and nowhere else since October 2018. Select the Department of Publication by name, read the amount the portal shows on the day, pay in your own name and print the e-receipt.
Check every date, then post it yourself
Nothing in the file older than one year. Personally or by post or courier only, never through an agent or advocate. Photocopy everything first, because nothing sent in comes back.
Read the notice, then start the seven day clock
Check every word the day it publishes and download the e-Gazette copy. Then remember that a change in your particulars starts the Form IV duty running, so the shop registration notice is the first business record to deal with.
The Five Papers in the File, and What Is Checked in Each
| The paper | What is checked in it, clause by clause |
|---|---|
| 1. The proforma, in duplicate | That it is the right category format; the existing full name exactly as your documents carry it; the new full name exactly as settled; the father or husband name; the full address with pin code; the post and office or company name where it is a change of name; the signature in the right name for the category; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number |
| 2. The affidavit or undertaking | The same names and address as the proforma, word for word, with wording matching the category. On Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default |
| 3. The original newspaper | The original paper, not a cutting; the paper name and date of publication visible; both names carried; the father or husband name and residential address; dated within the last year |
| 4. Photographs, identity proof and any category paper | Two self attested passport photographs; self attested identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses proofs; and, in a public notice file, the attested photocopy of the connected document carrying the error |
| 5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt | MS Word, without the witness portion, with the name typed in place of the signature; the certificate that the hard copy and the soft copy are the same; the forwarding letter to the Controller of Publication with a telephone number and email; the e-receipt |
The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the change of name wording on the proforma format page and the public notice wording on the public notice proforma page, the charge by category on the fee and undertaking page, the reasons files come back on the rejection reasons page, and the download on the download page.
What a Trade Licence and Shop Registration Name Change Costs in Jharkhand
| Item | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the Form IV notice with the Inspecting Officer | Rule 4(3) has the notice accompanied by a treasury challan or Indian Postal Order, so there is a payment. We do not print the amount or the challan head, because we could not verify either, and the Labour Department is the place to confirm it | Within 7 days of the change, which is your duty under Rule 4(1) |
| The risk of getting Form IV wrong | Rule 8 provides that where a statement in Form I or Form IV is found to be incorrect, the employer "shall be punished with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees". This is the one figure on this table we can quote, and it is a penalty rather than a fee | Not a timeline, a consequence |
| The Amendment Licence at your municipal body | No fee was stated on the State municipal services page we read, and we are not going to supply one from memory. Ask your own Municipal Corporation, Nagar Parishad or Nagar Panchayat | Set by the body. We print no timeline we have not verified |
| Timing it with a licence renewal | Usually the cheapest moment, because the document is being reissued anyway. But no validity period was stated on the page we read either, so ask the body when yours next falls due | With the renewal |
| Correcting the upstream records first, for a proprietor | Aadhaar charges a fee per attempt with no refund and limits how often a name may be updated. PAN has its own charge, shown on the official portal at the time of application. Decide the final spelling before you start | Set by each department |
| Affidavit, where an office asks for one | Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary charge. Two originals, because the office keeps one. Do not buy it before somebody asks | The same day |
| Government printing charge, only where a proprietor is genuinely changing his or her own name | The guidelines print Rs 1,100 for an adult change of name and Rs 1,400 for a public notice, for FY 2016 to 2017, each with the caveat that the charge varies each financial year and from case to case. What BharatKosh shows on the payment screen the day you pay is the figure that counts | Part IV publishes weekly, so allow several weeks from posting |
| Our charge | Quoted on your papers before you pay anything, and confirmed in writing. We print no service price on any page of this site | |
Myths About Trade Licence and Shop Establishment Name Changes
| What people are told | What is actually so |
|---|---|
| You can get round to it whenever you like | You cannot. Rule 4(1) says an employer "shall notify" the Inspecting Officer in Form IV "within seven days of the occurrence of the change". It is a duty with a clock, and it is the shortest period on this whole website |
| A gazette notification will change the shop name | It will not. Neither registration is published anywhere. A gazette is about a person, and it matters here only where a proprietor is genuinely changing his or her own name |
| One certificate covers the shop registration and the trade licence | Two separate registrations from two separate authorities. The Labour Department holds the Register of Establishments; your urban local body issues the trade licence. Neither office tells the other anything |
| Take a photocopy of your certificate and keep the original safe | Not here. Rule 4(3) has the Form IV notice "accompanied by the registration certificate" and the challan or postal order, after which the officer amends the register and the certificate. Take the original, and this is the single commonest reason for a second visit |
| Just write a letter explaining the change | There is a prescribed form with a number, Form IV, and the rule names it. A letter is not the form. This is the only page on this website where we can name the form with confidence, because the rule does it for us |
| Getting it filed quickly matters most | Getting it right matters most. Rule 8 provides a fine up to one hundred rupees where a statement in Form I or Form IV is found to be incorrect. The penalty attaches to inaccuracy, not to a careful extra day |
| Ask the municipality to change the name on the licence | Ask for the right thing by its name. On the State municipal services portal the route is the Amendment Licence, listed alongside new licence, renewal and surrender. Asking in the portal's own words is treated differently from asking for a favour |
| Everything can be done online for any town in Jharkhand | Do not assume it. The portal page we read listed Ranchi Municipal Corporation. Check whether your own body is on the portal at all before planning an online route, and be ready to attend in person |
| The business changed hands, so we will just amend the name on the licence | That is a change of person, not a spelling. The portal page we read did not list a transfer option among the trade licence services. Ask the body specifically about a change of ownership rather than filing an amendment and hoping |
| Only the shop name is covered by the notice | Rule 4(1) covers a change in respect of any particulars furnished in his application in Form I. Employer name, address, nature of business and the rest all sit inside it. Read your whole Form I and notify everything that has moved, in one notice |
Key Terms in a Trade Licence and Shop Registration Name Change
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Establishment | The shop or business the registration is taken for. What the Register of Establishments records, against your registration |
| Employer | The person on whom the duties fall under the rules. On this page, the person who owes the seven day notice |
| Inspecting Officer | The officer the application and the notice go to. Named in Rule 3(1) and Rule 4(1), and the officer who amends the register and the certificate under Rule 4(3) |
| Form I | The application for registration of the establishment, made in duplicate under Rule 3(1). The document every later notice is measured against |
| Form IV | The form this page is about. The notice of a change in any of the particulars furnished in Form I, given to the Inspecting Officer within seven days |
| Register of Establishments | The office's own register. Rule 4(3) has the officer make the necessary changes in it and then amend your certificate, so there are two records to keep in step |
| Registration certificate | Your paper. Note that under Rule 4(3) the notice is accompanied by it, so it goes in with the notice and comes back amended |
| Treasury challan or Indian Postal Order | How the payment accompanying the Form IV notice is made, in the words of Rule 4(3). Ask the Labour Department for the current amount and head |
| Trade licence | The permission from your urban local body to carry on the trade at that place. A separate registration from the shop establishment one |
| Amendment Licence | The trade licence service on the State municipal services portal, listed with new licence, renewal and surrender. The words to ask for |
| Urban local body | The Municipal Corporation, Nagar Parishad or Nagar Panchayat for the place the business sits in. Which one you deal with follows the premises |
| Received stamp | The office acknowledgement on your own copy. On a page about a duty you owe, this is the proof you discharged it |
Trade Licence and Shop Registration Help Across Jharkhand
The Inspecting Officer and your urban local body are both local to the business, and which municipal body you deal with follows the premises rather than where you live. Reading your original Form I, working out exactly what changed and on what date, drafting the Form IV notice so that no statement in it can be found incorrect, and telling you which of your other business records have to follow is done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district. Whether your own urban local body handles the Amendment Licence online is something to check for your town specifically, and we will tell you what we find.
District pages are linked from the services page.
Send both certificates and we will tell you what you owe
Send your shop and establishment registration certificate, your trade licence, and your original Form I if you can find it, along with your PAN and Aadhaar. Tell us what changed and on what date, because on this page the date decides everything. Tell us which town the business is in, since that fixes your urban local body. Our first reply tells you whether your seven day Form IV duty is open or already past, what the notice should say so that nothing in it can be found incorrect, that the registration certificate itself has to go in with the notice, what to ask your municipal body for by name, and which of your other business records have to follow and in what order. If your own urban local body is not on the State portal, we will tell you that too. Details on the contact page.
- 📞Call 9540005002
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM - WhatsApp 9540005064
Send your scans here, it is the fastest way - ✉️info@jharkhandnamechange.com
- 📍Ranchi office: Main Building, Near Shaheed Chowk, Ranchi, Jharkhand 834001
- 🏛️Head office (Gazette filing desk): Metro Pillar No. 377, Near Burari Metro Station, Shop No. B-1, Ground Floor, Gali No. 1, Khasra No. 31/12, Hardev Nagar, Jharoda Majra, Burari, Delhi 110084
Trade Licence and Shop Establishment Name Change: Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to report a name change on my shop registration?
Which form do I use?
Do I take a photocopy of my registration certificate or the original?
What happens if I get something wrong in the form?
Do I need a gazette notification for a trade licence or shop registration name change?
Does correcting one of them correct the other?
What do I ask the municipality for?
Can I do the trade licence part online for my town?
The business has changed hands. Is that a name change?
What will it cost and how long will it take?
Only my own name changed, not the shop name. Do I still notify?
Which of my business records should I deal with first?
Official Sources on Trade Licence and Shop Establishment Records
- India Code, Jharkhand Shops and Establishment LawsThe State's shops and establishment legislation as listed on India Code, which is where the Act behind the 2001 Rules should be read in full.
- Shram Adhan, Labour Department, Government of JharkhandThe State Labour Department's own portal for shops and establishments registration, and the place to confirm the current charge, the challan head and your district office.
- Compilation of the Jharkhand shops and establishment Acts and RulesThe published compilation in which we read Rules 3, 4 and 8 of the Jharkhand Shops and Establishments Rules, 2001, quoted on this page. A compilation, not a certified Government copy.
- Municipal services portal, Government of Jharkhand, trade licence servicesWhere the trade licence services are listed as new licence, renewal, surrender and Amendment Licence, and the page from which the observations on this page are taken.
- Jharkhand Municipal citizen services, SUDAThe State Urban Development Authority's citizen services, including municipal licence renewal.
- Government of JharkhandFor the Labour Department and the Urban Development and Housing Department, and for finding the urban local body that covers your premises.
- Income Tax DepartmentFor PAN, where a proprietor's own name is the particular that has changed.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaFor the Aadhaar name update route and the limits on how often a name may be updated.
- Department of PublicationFor the twelve gazette categories and their proformas, in the separate case where a proprietor's own name is genuinely being changed.
- BharatKosh, the Non Tax Receipt PortalThe only route for the Government printing charge since October 2018, and the only place the amount of the day can be read.
A Trade Licence and Shop Registration Name Change in Eight Lines
The short version
- Here the law puts the duty on you, not on the office.
- Seven days from the change, by Rule 4(1). The tightest clock here.
- The notice goes to the Inspecting Officer in Form IV.
- Your registration certificate goes in with the notice.
- A fine up to Rs 100 attaches to an incorrect statement.
- The trade licence is a separate registration at your municipality.
- There the route is called the Amendment Licence. Ask for that.
- No gazette is involved in either of them at any stage.
Tell us what changed and on what date, and we will tell you whether the seven days is still open.
Most shopkeepers have never been told this clock exists. It starts at the change, it runs for seven days, and nobody sends a reminder.