GST Registration - Primary authorized signatory

[Ashok Malkarnekar]

For a proprietorship, can a foreign citizen who holds OCI, is permanently residing in India, holding Aadhaar card and PAN card, be registered as primary authorized signatory for purposes of GST?

[Sadanand Bulbule]

In your case, the Overseas Citizen of India [OCI who has lifetime visa and residency right] cardholder has:

Aadhaaar- linked to PAN

Permanent residence in India

These meet the KYC and e-single/e-verification requirements under GST Act.

Hence he is fully eligible to be shown as the primary authorised person.

Refer: Rule 19 of the CGST Rules regarding primary authorised signatory.

[Pinnacle Tax Advisor]

All the GST forms are part of the GST Rules. As per the GST registration form, a non-Indian cant be a primary authorised signatory. Holding an Aadhaar and PAN in India doesnt make the person a citizen of India. Therefore, a foreign national cant be a primary authorised signatory.

[Sadanand Bulbule]

Holding an Aadhaar and PAN in India doesn’t make the person a citizen. 

But GST law does not require citizenship per se — it requires authentication and compliance feasibility through Aadhaar/PAN/residency.

Thus, the legal barrier is not “citizenship,” but the system and procedural requirement of Aadhaar authentication for the Primary Authorised Signatory role.

[Raam Srinivasan Swaminathan Kalpathi]

The views expressed by respected Sri.Sadanandji is correct.  We had for one NRI client taken registration without any impediment.

[Pinnacle Tax Advisor]

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Sadanand’s comments. As per the GST registration form, which is governed by GST rules, it is clearly stated that “Primary authorised signatory cannot be a non-Indian.” Kindly refer to the relevant page detailing the requirements for the primary authorised signatory.

If in any application, Non Indian was designated as an authorised signatory and if that application has been approved, it likely means that the form declared the NRI as an Indian. 

Thanks

[Sadanand Bulbule]

Dear all

May I draw your kind attention to Section 25 of the CGST Act read with Rule 13 of the CGST Rules, 2017?

[Shilpi Jain]

Non-resident taxable person under GST and under other laws is different.

“non-resident taxable person” means any person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services or both, whether as principal or agent or in any other capacity, but who has no fixed place of business or residence in India;

Also table 22 of REG-01 asks whether the primary authorised signatory is a citizen of India. It provides 2 options - yes/no. I do not see any instruction in that form that it cannot be a non-Indian.

AI Summary

Primary authorised signatory eligibility: Aadhaar linked PAN and residency vs registration form citizenship restriction.
The core issue is whether an OCI with Aadhaar, PAN and permanent residence in India can serve as the primary authorised signatory for GST. One position holds that Aadhaar linked PAN and residency satisfy GST KYC and e authentication requirements, permitting designation; the contrary position relies on the REG 01 form's citizenship question and interprets the rules as barring non Indians from that role, creating a practical conflict between authentication procedures and the citizenship field in the registration form.