LLP Strike Off — Form 24

Section 75 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, read with Rule 37 of the LLP Rules, 2009 (as amended in 2017), governs striking off an LLP's name from the Register maintained by the Registrar of Companies. An LLP may apply for voluntary strike-off using Form 24, accompanied by a statement of the partners confirming the LLP has not commenced business, or has ceased to carry on business, consent of all partners, an affidavit that the LLP has no liabilities (or that liabilities have been fully discharged), a copy of the latest Income Tax return (where filed), a statement of accounts not older than 30 days from the date of application (certified by a chartered accountant, where the LLP had commenced business), and closure of the LLP's bank account.

Before applying, all overdue statutory returns — Form 8 (Statement of Account and Solvency) and Form 11 (Annual Return) — up to the end of the financial year in which the LLP ceased to carry on its business must generally be filed, or the relevant exemption conditions under Rule 37 satisfied. The Registrar, on being satisfied that the LLP is defunct, publishes a notice and, absent objections, strikes the name off the Register, following which the LLP stands dissolved. Rule 37(1A) also empowers the Registrar to strike off an LLP suo motu where it is not carrying on business or operations, subject to prior notice and a show-cause process.

Note: the operative subordinate legislation remains the LLP Rules, 2009, as amended in 2017 — not a standalone "LLP Rules, 2017."

LLP strike off is the removal of a defunct limited liability partnership's name from the register of LLPs under the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2008 and the rules — the application in Form 26 to the Registrar when the LLP has ceased to carry on business, has no assets or liabilities, and has no pending dues, after which the name is struck off and the LLP ceases to exist. The strike-off is the low-cost exit for the LLP that never really operated or has stopped operating, as against the formal dissolution with the winding up.

The strike-off is the clean exit for the dormant LLP. The LLP that stopped trading but was never closed remains on the register with the accumulating annual filings — the Form 8 and the Form 11 that were never filed, the penalties that accrue — and the strike-off is the way to end the entity without the full dissolution process. The eligibility is strict: no business activity, no assets or liabilities, no pending dues, and the consent of the partners.

The cost of the abandoned LLP is the compounding default: the annual filing penalties that accrue under the Act, the LLP that cannot be closed later without clearing the backlog, and the partners who carry the liability of the entity that was never formally ended.

This service is for LLPs that have ceased operations. We assess the eligibility for the strike-off under the Act, clear the pending filings and the defaults where needed, obtain the partners' consents, prepare and file the Form 26, and follow the application to the striking off so the defunct LLP's legal life ends without the accumulated compliance.