Scan It Wrong, CIPC Sends It Back
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If you filed a CoR form on a Friday but by Monday it bounced back, rejected. Not because the numbers were wrong, but because the scan was. That is the risk CIPC just put in writing. In Notice 27 of 2026, CIPC set out exactly how scanned documents and email attachments must look, or they will not be processed.
About the Scanned Documents
Every scanned document must be black and white and legible. Colour scans no longer cut it. The notice is blunt: poor quality images will be rejected.
Here are the hard rules for filings sent by email:
One application, one email. You cannot split a single application across multiple emails, and each application must be scanned and sent separately to the correct address.
No duplicates. Filing the same application twice creates duplicate tracking, processing, and billing, and CIPC will not refund it.
File size under 10 megabytes. Anything bigger gets rejected, full stop.
PDF or Tiff files only. Standard PDF and Tiff are the only accepted formats. No JPEG, no other file types.
Copy Dot scans at a maximum of 150 dpi, scanned as close to 100% of final size as possible.
Use a black pen when completing forms by hand.
How to Send the email
The subject line matters too. It must clearly state:
The customer code,
The form code, and
Where applicable the entity name and registration number, each item separated by a comma.
For example: ABCI 23, CoR21.1, ABC (Pty) Ltd, 2002/123456/07.
Important Note: CIPC will ignore queries sent to the email addresses set up for application filing. Those inboxes are for filings, not questions.
And the warning has teeth. Submitting false information is an offence under section 215(2)(e) of the Companies Act, and the notice states that people found guilty will be prosecuted.
What to do today
Before your next filing season buries you, set your scanner defaults once and forget them: black and white, 150 dpi, saved as PDF, kept under 10MB. Build a subject-line template your team copies every time so nothing bounces over a missing comma. And tell clients up front that a phone-photo of a form, emailed as a JPEG, will be thrown out.
A rejected filing is not just admin. It is a missed deadline, an annoyed client, and time you do not bill for. Getting the scan right the first time protects all three.
This sits alongside the bigger shift in how CIPC handles paperwork. As we covered in the new CIPC complaints portal launching 27 March 2026, the Commission is moving steadily toward stricter, more digital document handling. The format rules are part of that same direction.
