Here is an example. Say you make soy candles at home in Pune. Friends buy them, two local shops stock them, and your sales come to about ₹6 lakh a year. Now you want to sell online. But you have no GST registration, and every marketplace sign-up page seems to ask for a GSTIN.
You can start without one. Since 1 October 2023, a small seller can sell on a marketplace without registering for GST, as long as the sales stay within one state. You need a PAN and an Enrolment ID from the GST portal, and only some marketplaces accept it.
Here is how it works, what you give up, and when we would get a GSTIN instead.
The rule, and the exception
GST law says anyone who sells through a marketplace must register for GST, whatever their sales. In 2023, the government made an exception for small sellers of goods. It is called Notification 34/2023, and it took effect on 1 October 2023.
You can sell on a marketplace without GST registration if all of these are true:
- You sell goods, not services.
- You sell only within one state, and only to buyers in that state.
- Your total sales stay within your state’s GST limit, both this year and last year.
- You have a PAN.
- You get an Enrolment ID from the GST portal before your first online sale.
The limit counts all your sales under your PAN: online, offline and anywhere in India. In most states it is ₹40 lakh a year for goods, and it is lower in some states, including the north-eastern states. Check your state’s limit with your CA.
Getting an Enrolment ID
You apply on the GST portal. Go to Services, then User Services, then “Generate User ID for Unregistered Applicant”, and choose “To Apply as a Supplier to e-Commerce Operators”. The form asks for your PAN, your name, your business address, the state you will sell from, and an email and mobile number, which are checked with an OTP.
The portal gives you the number once your PAN is verified. The official guidance does not mention an officer checking it. You can hold only one Enrolment ID per state, and you can sell from only one state. If you later register for GST, the Enrolment ID stops working from your registration date.
Which marketplaces accept it
Meesho is the one large marketplace that openly accepts the Enrolment ID. Its “Don’t have GST?” page asks for the Enrolment ID and a bank account, and Meesho shows your products only to buyers in your state. Meesho calls the number a “UIN”, but it means the same Enrolment ID. Once your total sales pass ₹40 lakh a year, or ₹20 lakh in the north-eastern states, Meesho restricts your sales until you add a GSTIN. Our guide to selling on Meesho covers the rest of the sign-up.
Amazon’s registration guide asks for a GSTIN. The exception is a seller who sells only GST-exempt products, such as books, who can sign up with a PAN. Amazon’s own pages do not mention the Enrolment ID. Flipkart asks for a regular GSTIN for most categories, and a PAN for sellers who sell only books. Blinkit and Zepto both ask for GST registration, and Blinkit also asks for an FSSAI licence where your product needs one.
So going by the marketplaces’ own pages, the Enrolment ID opens one door: Meesho, within your own state.
What you give up
Selling without GST registration is cheaper to start, but it has limits, and they matter more as you grow.
You cannot sell to buyers in other states. For the candle maker in Pune, that means buyers in Maharashtra only.
You cannot charge GST, and you cannot claim back the GST you pay. The GST on your wax, jars, boxes, ads and marketplace fees becomes part of your cost. Business buyers cannot claim GST credit on what they buy from you, so selling to shops and offices is harder.
When your total sales pass your state’s limit, you must apply for GST registration within 30 days, and the Enrolment ID stops when you register.
There is one small advantage. The marketplace does not deduct TCS, the 0.5% tax collected from registered sellers’ payouts, from your sales. Our guide to why marketplace payouts are less than the selling price explains TCS and the other deductions.
Two other routes
The first is for exempt products. If everything you sell is exempt from GST, you do not need registration at all. Amazon’s list of exempt products includes books, maps, fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, bangles, earthen pots, kites, and puja items such as idols and kumkum. Since 22 September 2025, notebooks, pencils, crayons, erasers and sharpeners have also been exempt.
Be careful with food. Since 18 July 2022, packed and labelled food is taxable, even flour or curd that is exempt when sold loose. Most food sold online comes in a labelled pack, so most online food sellers need GST. And one taxable product in your range brings the normal rules back for your whole business.
The second is the composition scheme, a simpler form of GST registration for small businesses. Since 1 October 2023, composition sellers can also sell goods on marketplaces, within their own state. The limit is ₹1.5 crore a year. On Meesho, it is ₹75 lakh in the north-eastern states. Manufacturers and traders pay a flat 1% of their turnover as tax, and they cannot claim input tax credit. Unlike sellers with only an Enrolment ID, composition sellers have TCS deducted from their payouts.
What may change in October
The GST Council meets in New Delhi on 7 October 2026. The meeting was moved from 12 September. Its agenda has not been published. News reports say it may discuss a simpler registration for small online sellers who want to sell in several states, without an office in each state. The Council approved this idea in principle in September 2025, but it has not become a rule.
Nothing is decided until the Council announces it, and any change then needs a notification and a start date. We will update this guide after the meeting.
When we would get a GSTIN instead
Our advice is simple. If you want to test online selling in your own state, the Enrolment ID on Meesho is the cheapest way to start. If you want Amazon, Flipkart, quick commerce, or buyers in other states, register for GST. Since 1 November 2025, small businesses can choose a simpler registration that is granted within three working days, with Aadhaar verification. One caution: in September 2026, the Delhi High Court ordered that, for now, GST registrations be granted only after a biometric Aadhaar check. Ask your CA how long registration is taking in your state.
Where we come in
We onboard sellers on Meesho, Amazon, Flipkart and the quick-commerce apps. So we know where first-time sellers get stuck: the GST question at sign-up, a product hidden from buyers in other states, and a listing rejected for a missing detail. We set up your seller account with the documents you have, and build your listings so they go live the first time. Everything runs in your own account, and you keep the login. See our onboarding and account management work.
We are not tax advisers. Your CA should confirm your state’s limit and file your GST. But choosing between the Enrolment ID and a GSTIN is a decision you can make in an afternoon, and we can help you plan your first listings around it.
