117 people arrested for fake GST registrations in 2 fiscal years: Minister

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) To weed out fake and bogus GST registrations, tax authorities arrested 50 people in FY 2024-25 and 67 people in FY 2023-24, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

Two special drives against fake Input Tax Credit and fake registrations were launched during the financial year 2023-24 and 2024-25 in coordination between the state and Central GST administrations, Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The tax authorities launched 33 prosecution drives in FY25, down from 53 in FY 2023-24.

Cases have been detected where fraudulent Goods and Services Tax (GST) registrations have been obtained using forged or stolen PAN and Aadhaar credentials, resulting in fake/bogus invoicing and passing of ineligible Input Tax Credit, thereby evading GST.

In FY25, Rs 13,109 crore was detected in fake/bogus GST registrations, and 3,977 firms were identified in such cases, according to the minister.

The tax authorities also identified 1,654 cases of fraudulent GST registrations obtained by using stolen or forged PAN/Aadhaar details of other people last fiscal.

Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication, driven by data analytics and risk-based parameters, has been implemented for processing GST registration applications throughout the country. All registration applications are assigned a risk rating by the system based on data analytics and risk parameters. These ratings are made available to the field formations of CBIC to enable them to conduct proper verification and further processing of applications.

“To ensure that fake registrations are not granted, the authenticity of the documents furnished as proof of address is cross-verified from publicly available sources, such as the websites of the concerned authorities, land registries, electricity distribution companies, municipalities, and local bodies,” the minister said.

The Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) has initiated an exercise to identify anomalies in digital information provided by the proprietorship firms at the time of GST registration.

GST registrations are identified, shortlisted, wherein misuse of individual credentials like PAN is suspected. These suspect GSTINs are shared with field formations for appropriate verification.

–IANS

na/vd