Data Analytics and Door to Door Surveys Show up 10,000 Fraud GST Registrations in First Week of Drive

Central and state goods and services tax officials have detected about 10,000 fake GST registrations in the first week of a joint drive. The officials are conducting door-to-door physical verification of addresses before initiating any action, people aware of details said. The campaign against fraudulent invoices and registration began May 15 and will run until July 15.

"In the first week of the drive so far we have detected about 10,000 fake GST registrations," a senior official said.

In many cases, officials found forged electricity bills, property tax receipts and rent agreements were used as proof of principal place of business to obtain GST registration.

The amount of fake input tax credit is yet to be ascertained. "It is premature to assess numbers so far but initial estimates suggest it to be above Rs. 25,000 crore," the official said, adding that the final numbers will be available once the drive ends.

The physical verification cases have been selected through data analytics and risk parameters by GST Network (GSTN), which identifies possible fraudulent GSTINs for state and central tax authorities.