In a bid to combat tax fraud, the State GST Department has announced the introduction of biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for Goods and Services Tax (GST) registrations, effective October 8. These measures aim to curb the misuse of government-issued identification documents such as Aadhaar and PAN cards, which have been involved in creating fake GST registrations without the knowledge of the original document holders.
Incidents of such fraud have been detected nationwide, with Kerala's GST Intelligence wing identifying cases where these documents were exploited to generate fraudulent GST registrations. Following the introduction of biometrics-based Aadhaar authentication, states like Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat have reported a noticeable decline in such activities.
The department explained that candidates selected for Aadhaar authentication are determined through data analysis and risk assessment. High-risk cases will undergo biometric authentication, while others will use OTP-based Aadhaar verification.
This initiative is part of a phased rollout, recommended by the GST Council in June, and must be completed within 15 days of submitting a GST REG-01 application.
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