Instruction No. 03/2023-GST dated 14 June 2023

Key Pointers – 

• To address the problem of fake registration and fake input tax credit, Instruction No. 01/2023-GST dated 04.05.2023 has been issued for concerted and coordinated action on a mission mode by Central and State tax authorities in the form of a Special All-India Drive against fake registrations.
• Numerous initiatives have been/are being undertaken on the policy and systems level, it is pertinent to strengthen the process of scrutiny and verification of such applications for registration at the end of tax officers. Accordingly, the following guidelines are issued for strengthening the process of verification of applications for registration at the end of tax officers in a uniform manner:
• Immediately on receipt of the application the officer shall initiate the process of scrutiny and verification of the details filled and the documents uploaded by the applicant along with the said application.
• The proper officer shall carefully scrutinize the said documents to ensure that the documents are legible, complete and relevant. Further, to the extent possible, the authenticity of the documents furnished as proof of address may be cross-verified from the publicly available sources, such as websites of the concerned authorities
• The proper officer shall check the risk rating made available by the DGARM in respect of the concerned ARN and take the same into consideration while verifying and processing the said application. Special attention needs to be paid to the cases where “High” risk rating has been assigned to an ARN.
• The proper officer shall issue a notice to the applicant electronically in FORM GST REG-03 where any deficiency is found, within a period of seven working days from the date of submission of the application in cases where the applicant has undergone authentication of Aadhaar number and within a period of thirty days in cases specified in proviso to sub-rule (1) of rule 9 of CGST Rules, 2017.
• While processing the applications for registration, including in those cases where physical verification is to be conducted, it will be ensured by the proper officer that the application is either rejected or accepted or relevant query is raised within the prescribed time limit and no application for grant of registration is approved on deemed basis for want of timely action on the part of tax officers.