Under Section 165 of the Companies Act, 2013, a person may hold office as director in how many companies at the same time, and in not more than how many public companies?

Section 165 of the Companies Act, 2013 restricts the number of directorships a person may hold. Subject to the rules, a person cannot hold office as a director in more than twenty companies at the same time, and the proviso caps directorships in public companies at ten. Directorships held in dormant companies, or in companies which have not commenced business or whose paid-up share capital is below a notified threshold, are excluded while counting the limit. The fifteen, twenty-five and fifteen-public-company figures found in the other options do not represent the statutory caps. Since the Act fixes twenty companies overall and ten public companies, the third option is correct.