VPOB — Virtual Place of Business for e-commerce sellers

A VPOB (Virtual Place of Business) is a verified virtual office address used to obtain a GSTIN in a state where you have no physical office, backed by a notarised NOC, registered Rent Agreement and matching Utility Bill.

Yes. Using a virtual office address as a VPOB for GST registration is permitted under the GST framework when the documents are genuine and the provider supports any physical verification.

Marketplaces only let you store and ship from a fulfilment centre in a state where you hold a GSTIN, with that centre listed as an APOB. A VPOB gives you the state GSTIN without renting an office.

Launch Starter is ₹19,188/yr per state and include the full GST document set.

A VPOB gets you a GSTIN in a new state; an APOB adds a warehouse or fulfilment centre to a GSTIN you already hold. Most sellers need both, in sequence.

Yes. Virtual offices are legal in India and are expressly workable under GST law and the Companies Act, provided the address is a genuine premises and you hold the documents that prove your right to use it.

There is no provision anywhere in the CGST Act or the Companies Act 2013 that prohibits registering at a premises you do not own or occupy full-time. What the law cares about is proof. CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST dated 17 April 2025 sets out exactly what is acceptable for a principal place of business, including where the premises belongs to someone else: a consent letter on plain paper from the owner, with a copy of their identity proof and any one document from the list appended to FORM GST REG-01 supporting the consenter’s ownership, should suffice.

What is not legal is a fabricated or non-existent address. That is where the sector’s bad reputation comes from — shell firms registering at addresses that do not exist, to pass on input tax credit without any underlying supply. A real building with real signage and real staff is on the right side of that line; a mailbox is not.

Yes — a virtual office address is accepted for GST registration, and CBIC has issued explicit written instructions telling officers what documents to accept and what queries they may not raise.

For rented premises, CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST requires a valid rent or lease agreement plus any one document establishing the lessor’s ownership — latest property tax receipt, municipal khata copy, or electricity bill. It is unusually direct about overreach: it records that field officers had been demanding the lessor’s PAN card, Aadhaar card and photographs of the lessor in front of or inside the property, and instructs that any one ownership document should be sufficient proof. It further directs that officers should not ask any presumptive query unrelated to the documents or information submitted.

Timelines under the same instruction: applications not flagged as risky and found complete should be approved within 7 working days. Where the application is flagged risky, Aadhaar authentication fails, or the officer decides physical verification is warranted with approval no lower than Assistant Commissioner, the window extends to 30 days. Our plans include the full document pack plus in-house CA, CS and corporate lawyer to handle any REG-03 query and attend the physical verification. Print the instruction and keep it in the file — officers respond well to being shown their own Board’s circular.

The main risk is documentation, not legality. Specifically: a rejected GST registration because the provider’s paperwork was incomplete or the rent agreement unregistered; a failed physical verification at premises that turn out to be a mailbox; a provider whose lease lapses, forcing an address amendment on your GSTIN; and, if the same address is used carelessly by many registrants, elevated departmental scrutiny of everyone on it.

There is also a reputational tail. Because shell operators have abused virtual addresses, some officers apply extra caution — which is exactly why CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST was issued, and why keeping a copy in your file is practical advice rather than theoretical.

Mitigate by visiting or getting photographs of the premises, insisting on a registered rent agreement, confirming in writing that the provider attends verifications, and choosing one with in-house CA and CS capability.