Kubr Research · Last reviewed 3 November 2026

GST Number Verification: How to Check a GSTIN

What a GSTIN is made of, how to look one up on the official portal, and how far to trust the result.

A Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) is one of the quickest things to check on an Indian business, because the GST portal lets anyone look it up. It is also one of the easiest things to over-read. This guide explains what a GSTIN is made of, how to verify one on the official portal, and what a clean result does and does not prove.

The portal’s menus and fields change from time to time, so treat the steps below as a method and confirm the current layout on the GST portal.

How a GSTIN is built

A GSTIN has 15 characters:

Characters 1 to 2: the state or union territory code.
Characters 3 to 12: the 10-character Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the taxpayer.
Character 13: a number or letter showing how many registrations the same PAN holds in that state.
Character 14: the letter Z by default.
Character 15: a check character.

Two practical consequences follow. A business with operations in several states holds several GSTINs, one per state, all containing the same PAN. And the embedded PAN gives you something to cross-check: the PAN the company gave you should match characters 3 to 12 of its GSTIN. A GSTIN that fails the format or check character is a typing error or a fabricated number; one that passes is only well-formed, not necessarily registered.

How to verify a GSTIN on the portal

Open the GST portal and go to Search Taxpayer, available without logging in.
Choose search by GSTIN/UIN, enter the number and the captcha.
Read the result against what the company told you.

The result typically shows the legal name of the business, the trade name, the date of registration, the constitution of business (for example company, partnership or proprietorship), the taxpayer type, the registration status, the tax jurisdictions and the nature of business activities. It may also show the principal place of business. The portal also offers a way to view whether a taxpayer has filed its returns and for which periods; check the current menu on the portal for where that sits.

What to compare

Legal name. It should match the contract and the name on the company registry. For a company, compare with MCA master data (see checking a company on MCA21).
Status. Active is the expected answer. Cancelled, suspended or any other status is a question to put to the company before you transact.
Registration date. A registration that is much newer than the company’s claimed trading history needs an explanation.
Constitution of business. A pitch describing a company that registers as a proprietorship, or the reverse, is a mismatch.
State and address. Compare with the invoice address and the place where goods or services are actually supplied.
Return filing. Regular filing is a good sign; gaps and long delays are worth asking about.

What a GSTIN check does not prove

That the business is sound. A GST registration is a tax registration, not a certificate of quality, solvency or honesty.
That the person in front of you is authorised. The portal says nothing about who may sign for the business.
The turnover or tax actually paid. Filing status shows that returns were filed, not that the figures in them are correct. Tax data of that kind is private to the taxpayer and is available to Kubr only with the company’s consent.
Ownership. A GSTIN carries the PAN, not a list of owners or directors.
That the data is current. The portal shows the state of the record when you look; keep a dated copy.

Using it in vendor checks

In vendor onboarding, a GSTIN lookup is a sensible gate rather than a conclusion. Ask for the GSTIN in writing, look it up, match the name, status and state, match the PAN to the vendor’s other papers, and save a dated copy. If the vendor is a company, run the registry check as well; a GST status that is active alongside a company that is struck off, or a name that differs from the registry, is exactly the kind of mismatch the check exists to find. For the wider routine, see our guide to KYB verification.

Where the relationship is material, a free lookup is not enough. Kubr’s Verified Snapshot compares registry, court and, with consent, tax and bank records, and the vendor and counterparty due diligence page explains how it supports supplier checks.

Sources

Primary registries and regulators referred to in this article:

Kubr accesses bank and tax records only with the company’s consent.

This article is general information, not legal, financial or investment advice.