Selling on Meesho, Amazon or Flipkart Without a GST Number

For years the answer to "can I sell online without a GST number?" was a flat no. Anyone selling goods through Meesho, Amazon or Flipkart had to register for GST before the first order, however small the business. That changed when the government created a route for very small sellers to trade on an Enrolment ID instead of a GSTIN. This guide covers Meesho seller registration without GST, the same route on Amazon and Flipkart, the conditions that come with it, and the point at which a full registration becomes unavoidable.

The old rule: register from the first sale

Normally GST registration depends on turnover. A business supplying only goods has to register once its aggregate turnover crosses ₹40 lakh in a financial year in most states, or ₹20 lakh in the states that kept the lower limit. The figures and the state list are in our GST registration turnover limit guide.

Section 24 of the CGST Act lists people who must register whatever their turnover. One entry on that list is any person supplying goods through an electronic commerce operator that is required to collect tax at source. Every large marketplace collects TCS, so for a long time a home seller listing ten kurtas on Meesho needed a GSTIN before the first order, exactly like a large brand. That one rule kept a great many small sellers off the platforms. They could sell on Instagram or WhatsApp without registering, but not on a marketplace.

The relaxation for small sellers of goods

The government has since used its power to exempt certain persons from registration to carve out small online sellers of goods. Broadly, a person can supply goods through an e-commerce operator without registering for GST if all of these are true:

• their aggregate turnover, counted across all sales, online and offline, is below the registration threshold that applies to them in their state (see how aggregate turnover is calculated);
• they make supplies only within one state or union territory, and no inter-state supply at all;
• they hold a PAN;
• they have declared their PAN, the address of their place of business and their state on the GST portal, and been issued an Enrolment ID.

The operator is then allowed to onboard the seller against the Enrolment ID instead of a GSTIN, on condition that it does not let that seller make inter-state supplies.

Two related relaxations sit alongside it. Composition taxpayers, who were previously barred from selling through e-commerce operators, may now sell goods within their own state through an operator. They still hold a GSTIN and pay tax under the scheme, and the composition scheme rules apply as usual. Suppliers of services through a platform are covered by a separate exemption that puts them back on the ordinary turnover threshold. The Enrolment ID is a goods route.

How to get a GST Enrolment ID

The Enrolment ID is generated on the GST portal itself, not by the marketplace, and there is no fee. The menu labels change from time to time, but the process runs like this:

1. On gst.gov.in, find the enrolment option for unregistered persons supplying goods through e-commerce operators. It is listed with the other registration services.
2. Enter your PAN, the name as it appears on the PAN, your mobile number and email address. Both are verified by OTP.
3. Select the state or union territory where you do business and give the address of your place of business. This is the only state you can sell in.
4. Submit. The portal validates the PAN and issues an Enrolment ID, which you then enter on the marketplace in place of a GSTIN.

The details have to be accurate, because the marketplace matches them against what you give it. A name that does not match the PAN, or a pickup address in a different state from the one on your enrolment, is the usual reason for an onboarding rejection.

Meesho, Amazon and Flipkart seller registration without GST

At signup, every marketplace asks for a GSTIN. Those that accept the Enrolment ID route show a second option, usually worded along the lines of "I don't have a GSTIN" or "sell with Enrolment ID". The marketplace applies the scheme's conditions to you directly:

Meesho has made the Enrolment ID option most prominent. A large share of its sellers are home businesses, and it restricts their deliveries to pin codes within their state. Amazon and Flipkart accept the same route for qualifying sellers, but the programmes and categories open to an Enrolment ID seller are each marketplace's own call and change over time. Check the signup screen, not a third-party list.

Note that the marketplace's own checks are stricter in practice than the law. A platform that has to stop inter-state supplies by unregistered sellers will simply hide your listing from buyers outside your state. How platforms verify sellers at this stage is covered in marketplace seller onboarding.

What you cannot do on an Enrolment ID

• Charge GST. An unregistered person cannot collect tax from a buyer. Your price is your price, and adding a GST line to it is an offence. See charging GST without registration.
• Claim input tax credit. The GST on the marketplace's commission, shipping and advertising fees, and on your purchases, is a cost to you.
• Serve business buyers who want credit. A buyer who needs a tax invoice to claim credit cannot get one from you.
• Sell across states, or from two states. The enrolment is for one state, and the whole exemption rests on staying inside it.
• Sell services. The Enrolment ID is for goods. A small service provider relies on the separate services exemption instead.

When GST registration becomes compulsory

The Enrolment ID is a starting point, not a permanent status. You need a regular GSTIN, applied for in the normal way (see the online registration process), as soon as any of these happens:

• Your aggregate turnover crosses the threshold for your state. Remember that this counts your offline sales and sales on every other channel, not just one marketplace.
• You want to sell to buyers in another state, even one order. An inter-state supply of goods triggers compulsory registration in its own right.
• You want to stock goods in another state, for example in a marketplace fulfilment centre, which creates a place of business there.
• You start supplying services as well, or anything else that falls under one of the other compulsory registration categories.

Some sellers register before they have to, because B2B buyers want a GSTIN or because they want credit on the marketplace's fees. Once you have a GSTIN you file returns every period, nil returns included, and the full compliance picture in GST for e-commerce sellers applies.

TCS: what the marketplace deducts, and from whom

Section 52 requires an e-commerce operator that collects payment for its sellers to withhold tax at source on the net value of taxable supplies made through it. That is sales less returns in the month, at a notified percentage. For a registered seller the TCS is deposited against your GSTIN, reported in the operator's GSTR-8, and lands in your electronic cash ledger once you accept it on the portal. You then use it to pay your own output tax. The mechanics are in GST TDS and TCS explained.

For an Enrolment ID seller there is nothing to credit TCS against, so the scheme's conditions say the operator does not collect TCS on these supplies. It still reports them. Expect TCS to start appearing in your settlement statements from the day you replace the Enrolment ID with a GSTIN.

On the buying side, a GSTIN shown on a marketplace invoice is public and easy to check. If you buy stock from another seller and want to claim credit, confirm the GSTIN is active and belongs to the name on the bill. Our GSTIN verification page does that, and what "GSTIN (optional)" means at checkout covers the buyer's side of marketplace orders.

Frequently asked questions