Reporting Fake GST Registrations under your PAN

There have been cases in the past wherein one has used documents of another person and taken GST registration. The impersonator then uses the GST registration to undertake illegal transactions, collect GST from fake transactions and then goes amiss, leaving the person whose documents had been used in trouble. The Authorities then start proceedings against the person whose documents had been used including issue of notices, provisional attachment, etc.

To alert the taxpayers from getting into such a situation, GSTN has a feature wherein one can search for the number of registrations under his PAN and if he/ she finds that there is a registration which has not been taken by him/ her but is appearing in the list, one can make a complaint to GSTN immediately. The process for the same is as follows:

Step 1: Under the tab “Search Taxpayer” on https://www.gst.gov.in/, click on “Search by PAN”

Step 2: Insert the PAN which will display all the registrations under the PAN. The page displays the list of GSTINs, whether they are Active/ Inactive and State of Registration. The page mentions “Kindly select GSTIN which you want to report on the GST Portal.”

Step 3: On the right hand side of the page where all the GSTINs are displayed, check if all belong to you or there are ones which you have not taken but shows in the list. These could be the ones which are fake registrations or registrations taken without your consent by an impersonator. These registrations could be used to undertake fake transactions.

Step 4: Tick the check box under the heading “Report”, click on “Report” button and go to the next step. Please note that any GSTIN that has not been properly migrated from old law to GST will not be allowed to be reported, which in my opinion is fine.

Step 5: GSTN will ask for your details e.g. name, date of birth, address, etc. The details of e mail ID and mobile number will also be asked so as to send OTP for verification.

Step 6: Insert the OTP received in e mail and mobile number and complete the first level of verification.

Step 7: Once the first level of verification will be completed, one has to undertake e-KYC through Aadhar verification. One has to provide consent for authentication to GSTN, wherein one declares that “I, the holder of Aadhaar number/VID to be mentioned below, hereby give my consent to Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) to obtain my Aadhaar Number and Name for authentication with UIDAI. GSTN will use the identity information for filling report against fake GSTINs taken on the PAN as selected by me and details will not be shared unless it is required to do so and will be submitted to Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) only for the purpose of filling report.”

Step 8: Insert your Aadhar number and an OTP will be received on your mobile. Insert the OTP and complete the second level of authentication.

Step 9: Once the second level of authentication is complete, the Aadhar details are displayed on the site. One should recheck the Aadhar details and if correct should proceed with the declaration, which is as follows: “Declaration – I hereby declare that PAN XXXXXXXXXX belongs to me/ my organization and the following GST registration(s) against this PAN as shown below are incorrectly taken without any consent of the appropriate authority. I hereby request the competent authority to do proper investigation in this matter and take necessary action as deemed fit.”

Step 10: After clicking the check box for Declaration, one has to click on either ACCEPT or REJECT button. If ACCEPT button is clicked, the application goes to the appropriate authority for proper investigation. The complaint has been registered in this case. However if one does not want to go ahead with the complaint application, he/ she can click REJECT and come out of the process. The complaint will not be registered in this case.

This is a very novel initiative taken by the Department and GSTN wherein one can keep checking whether anyone has taken registration using fake documents and which does not belong to you. One should keep checking such details atleast on a quarterly basis and if anything is found to be improper, immediate action should be taken. The taxpayer should also attach copy of this application and send it to the jurisdictional officer intimating him of the improper registration and the complaint filed by you in the GSTN system. This will ensure ones bonafide and in case of any demand/ investigation, these documents will go a long way to prove ones innocence.

(Views of the author are personal)