India’s GST network is one of the world’s largest live registries of active businesses. GSTIN search is a public, government-provided facility — anyone can verify a supplier’s registration, legal name, and status. That’s the foundation of legitimate B2B data in India.
What’s public and why
The GST regime made registration data public on purpose: buyers must be able to verify that the invoice they’re paying carries a genuine, active GSTIN. Legal name, trade name, state, registration status, and taxpayer type are all disclosed by the system itself.
Public ≠ unlimited
- Establishment vs. individual: for proprietorships, the legal name is a person’s name — treat those records with DPDP-level care.
- Purpose matters: using registry data for supplier verification and B2B outreach is defensible; using it for harassment or fraud obviously is not.
- No misrepresentation: presenting yourself as GSTN, or implying government endorsement, violates the IT Act and trademark law.
Buying registry-based data
Ask any vendor three questions: Where is this sourced? When was it last verified? How are proprietorship records handled? If they can’t answer, walk away.
This article is general information, not legal advice.