Pattern

Regex for CIN (Corporate Identification Number)

21-character ID for Indian companies registered with MCA.

The CIN (Corporate Identification Number) regex is ^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$ — copy it below, or open it in the explainer for a token-by-token breakdown.

The pattern

^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$

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What it matches

L17110MH1973PLC019786
U72200KA2010PTC053447
L99999MH1992PLC067594

What it doesn't match

L17110MH1973PLC01978
17110MH1973PLC019786
l17110mh1973plc019786

Notes & gotchas

Format: L (listed) or U (unlisted) + 5-digit industry code + 2-letter state code + 4-digit year + 3-letter ownership type (PLC, PTC, NPL, etc.) + 6-digit registration number. Issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Code in your language

Use the explainer's Code tab to generate ready-to-paste snippets in JavaScript, Python, Java, .NET, Go, Ruby, and PHP for this pattern.

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Token-by-token breakdown

Every part of the pattern, left to right:

Token	Meaning
`^`	start of string (or line in multiline mode)
`[LU]`	any of: “L”, “U”
`\d{5}`	exactly 5 times: digit (0–9)
`[A-Z]{2}`	exactly 2 times: any of: uppercase letters
`\d{4}`	exactly 4 times: digit (0–9)
`[A-Z]{3}`	exactly 3 times: any of: uppercase letters
`\d{6}`	exactly 6 times: digit (0–9)
`$`	end of string (or line in multiline mode)

About this pattern

India-specific identifiers are governed by various authorities (UIDAI for Aadhaar, Income Tax Dept for PAN, RBI for IFSC, GSTN for GSTIN, etc.). Regex confirms format; for definitive validation, integrate with the issuing authority's verification API.

Quick usage in different languages

This exact pattern — with the correct escaping and idioms for each language:

JavaScript: /^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$/.test(value)
Python: re.match(r"^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$", value)
Java: Pattern.compile("^[LU]\\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\\d{6}$").matcher(value).matches()
C# / .NET: Regex.IsMatch(value, @"^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$")
Go: regexp.MustCompile(`^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$`).MatchString(value)
Ruby: /^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$/.match?(value)
PHP: preg_match('~^[LU]\d{5}[A-Z]{2}\d{4}[A-Z]{3}\d{6}$~', $value)

The explainer’s Code tab regenerates these for any pattern you paste, and the downloadable cheat sheet bundles the breakdown, all seven snippets, and the pitfalls below onto one printable page.

Common pitfalls

Anchored to the whole string. This pattern uses ^ and $, so it requires the entire input to match. To find it inside a longer text, drop the anchors and use the global (g) flag.
Uppercase only. Ranges like [A-Z] won't match lowercase. Add a-z (or the i flag) if lowercase input should be accepted.
Escape it correctly per language. In Java and JavaScript strings each backslash must be doubled (\\d); in Python, Go, and C# use raw/verbatim strings so the backslashes survive.
Validate beyond format. Matching the format doesn't guarantee the value is real. Confirm the cin (corporate identification number) against a source of truth (database, API, or checksum) where it matters.

Standards & sources

This pattern is based on the following authoritative specification(s) and issuing authorities. Formats can change — always confirm against the primary source.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), India

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